AndyO Blog

We're back in beautiful Lake Chelan, where my wife attends a conference every year. It's also become a tradition for the kids and me to come with her. I still remember the first time I came along with Cameron, who was only a few months old. It's certainly a lot easier now, even though I have to watch after two kids now.

To sleep... perchance to dream

Before we left Seattle, I decided to sleep in -- and then sleep some more. Brenda had told me the day before that we were leaving early, and I'd agreed. But then I went downstairs with the boys and enjoyed a nice mid-morning nap to the soothing sounds of The Lion King.

When I got back upstairs, Brenda was pulling all her bags out of our Outback and throwing them in the Jetta. I asked what she was doing, and she said, "I need to go. I'll meet you there."

Ooops. Shouldn't have taken that mid-morning nap.

After several minutes of negotiating -- I was standing in the entryway, and she was standing near her car -- she agreed to give me 30 minutes.

In the shower, I started singing a new song:

"I'm in the doghouse/ And the whole neighborhood knows it..."

Sidenote: I live in a neighborhood where a public argument will become fodder for many gossip sessions. I've learned not to care about this stuff -- unless I'm truly out of line (that is, yelling).

Good news/Bad news

I made it out of the house in about 45 minutes, although by the time we gassed up the car and returned to the house for some stuff I'd forgotten, it was well over an hour.

The good news was that we got to Campbell's at Lake Chelan in about 3-1/2 hours. The bad news was they didn't have our room ready.

I'm not one of those people who always thinks his room should be ready -- especially when I'm getting in before check-in time -- but you think they would have given a little extra effort for  the person putting on the conference (Brenda). Instead, we got the, "Check-in time is at 4:00. We'll call you if we can get your room ready earlier."

Brenda had to run off to a meeting, and I decided to sit in the lobby with Drew (wearing only a diaper) and Cameron (wearing all his clothes). They raised hell, jumping on couches and having a good time. The concierge finally told them to settle down.

At 4:10, I got up and waited in line to check in. When I got up to the front, around 4:25, they said they still didn't know if my room was available -- but they would check. Thankfully, it was available.

But when we arrived at the room, there was a housekeeping cart sitting out front. I asked the person there if the room was ready, and they called someone on their walkie talkie.

"I just told the office that that room was ready!" a man yelled on the walkie talkie.

I decided at this point, they were either having a really bad day -- or they hadn't trained their staff.

Freeze Gopher!

After we were in the room and starting to relax, I got out my new telephoto lens for my Canon G9. Fortunately, a subject appeared in the distance. After taking a few shots, I thought maybe it was a gopher. Or a groundhog. Or a prairie dog.

Later I found out it was a marmot -- probably a Yellow-bellied Marmot, which is common in the Northwest.

Later I went out during twilight to take some additional pictures of Campbell's. I love this time of the day, with the mountains sharpening against the sky, the lake starting to calm.

Labels: Travels, Vacation

Today I woke up late. My cold was even worse than the day before, probably because of all the singing I did at the concert the night before. Dan also slept in.

Best Egg

We drove off to the Best Egg restaurant, as Dan knows I like to eat a big breakfast every once in a while. After I was done eating, I felt better. Maybe it was the orange juice? Maybe it was the Diet Coke?

McFarlane toys

Before we went to breakfast, Dan looked up McFarlane and we found out they had a showroom right in Tempe -- not too far from Dan's house. We weren't sure what the difference was between a showroom and a store, but once we got there we were pleasantly surprised.

The showroom was basically a place where they could show off the best McFarlane figures -- including prototype figures -- as well as a bunch of McFarlane's sports collection. My favorite items were two original seats from Wrigley Field.

They also sold toys. Many of the boxes were autographed by Todd McFarlane personally. I picked out Wallace (from Wallace and Gromit) and a Halo figure for my boys. I also picked up a Hank Aaron figure for my brother, who a huge baseball fan.

When Dan and I got to the register, we found out the cashier was from our hometown of Richland, Washington. I used this moment to point out to Dan about synchronicity again -- a meaningful coincidence. (I find that synchronicity happens more on vacation or when I'm away from home -- probably because I'm more alert to new things I'm seeing around me).

What were the chances that we'd run into a McFarlane store the night before (one of two stores in existence) -- and that the showroom store was only a few miles from Dan's house? What were the chances that the cashier would be from the same town where Dan and I met in third grade? Interesting stuff, at the very least.

Baseball in Phoenix

Later, Dan, Kim, and I went to Preston's baseball game. Preston is about the same age as my oldest son Cameron. I believe everyone has at least one gift, and one of Preston's is playing baseball. I've never seen an eight year old fielding like an 18 year old. From shortstop, he was firing the ball over to first base. When he was up to bat, he hit doubles and home runs. When the other team hit what looked to be a home run, Preston went into the outfield, grabbed the ball, and threw it in to home to stop the runner.

After seeing Preston tonight, I feel like I've seen a kid who could advance into a baseball career. I know that there are still many more hoops for him to jump through, and many more years for him to play, but you heard it here first. If this kid keeps focused, he'll be going to The Show when he's 18 or 19.

Labels: Phoenix, Travels, Vacation

Dan and I arrived at Cricket Wireless Pavilion with about an hour to spare. We parked, and then had to walk around to the opposite side of the venue to pick up our tickets at Will Call. Once inside, Dan and I made a few stops and then made our way to our seats. It always feels a little strange to keep walking closer and closer to the stage, as I'm used to sitting farther away. But tonight we had fifth row seats, right in front of Geddy.

Here are my notes from the show (SPOILERS!):

• Two women are sitting on Geddy's side of the stage. They have their own monitor, and are holding radio station signs. Dan said they had a contest at the local radio station for a meet and greet with Rush. I guess the private seats on the stage were part of the deal.
• Dan spots Randy Johnson backstage, perusing the drum kit (behind the curtain), talking to the crew. I tell Dan that Randy is friends with the band and is a drummer himself.
• In general, there are more women at Rush shows these days. I bet this seems a little strange to the band.
• Lots of kids at the show. Looking around, I can see 4 with their parents in my immediate vicinity. One is sitting next to me.
• Once the show starts, Alex doesn't hold the note in Limelight. I'm glad they dropped the whole Alex-waits-for-Geddy-who-is-eating-chicken-backstage shtick. Everyone I talked to on the last leg thought Rush was making a mistake -- that Geddy really was late to the stage.
• I'm getting used to the new arrangement of Digital Man now. The end of the song rocks.
• It's nice to hear Ghost of a Chance again. The band has changed the arrangement quite a bit. However, I'm not sure switching out Entre Nous with Ghost was a good idea, especially because Mission, another mid-temp song, follows.
• Geddy makes a comment about how much they love it in Phoenix. (During the day, Dan and I heard on the radio station that Geddy had been at the Diamondbacks game on Wednesday night, and that Alex was golfing in Scottsdale.)
• Neil is especially into the show tonight. He's hitting hard, grimacing. I can tell when Neil is into it, even from far away.
• I keep pinching myself, because these are some of the best seats I've had a Rush show. Not too close, and not too far away:

• Geddy is right in front of us much of the time. His bass playing is astonishing at close range. I noticed that sings his bass parts, too.
• Geddy: "We have to drink lots of water cause we're from Canada. We're used to shoveling snow."
• Security cracks down on everyone taking pictures.
• Right before intermission, Geddy says, "We need to take a break. As you can see, we're no spring chickens."
• During intermission, I look back into crowd. The place is packed:

• I also see that the ceiling fans are still (last time they were spinning like airplane props in August heat). That's because a cool breeze is blowing. Perfect night for a concert.

Set 2

• The new lead-in to Set 2 is hilarious: "Harry Satchel in 'What's that Smell?'"
• In Subdivisions, Neil has problems with his hi-hat clutch (the piece that locks the top hi-hat to the rod, so that he can open and close it with the pedal). Lorne Wheaton, his drum tech, does a quick fix and then in the intro to Natural Science does more work as Neil takes a break.
• Also in Natural Science in the Tidepools section, Geddy is clearly having problems with his in-ear monitors. He keeps motioning for the soundman to fix things, and he finally steps back and fiddles with the knobs on his remote. Since I'm so close, I get the feeling that he's angry. I see how important it is to him to give the fans the best show possible.
• Next, it's Alex's turn. In Witch Hunt, right after the intro, Alex goes to play the opening riff -- but there's no sound. He looks over to his tech. Still nothing's coming out. I can almost feel Geddy Lee's frustration. But then the Witch Hunt riff fades in. As Alex is playing during the song, he looks back over at his tech, who smacks his head in a "D'oh!"-like way. Alex just smiles.
• By the time the drum solo comes around, the gremlins seem to have been chased away. As always, Neil is amazing -- especially watching from such a close vantage point.
• In The Spirit of Radio, Randy Johnston comes out with a chicken mask on his head and bastes the chickens in the Henhouse. When he bastes Neil's chicken on the cymbal stand, Neil gives him a smile.
• I'm happy to hear 2112 Overture and Temples of Syrinx again. Those songs always get the crowd pumped up.
• Right before the encore, Geddy and Alex throw shirts to the crowd. Just like the last time I saw Rush in this venue during R30, a shirt sails right toward me... and the guy in front of me grabs it. So close.

After the show, after getting out of the parking lot, Dan and I somehow made it back to his house in 35 or 40 minutes. I asked him to stop at Wendy's for a burger, as concerts make me really hungry -- especially when I'm air drumming half the time.

I sleep well.

Labels: Phoenix, Rush, Travels, Vacation

I woke up today at 6:30 a.m., still feeling sick from the cold-that-would-not-die. I actually thought it was a good thing, waking up this early, since Dan said he was going in early to work. I figured I could just go with him. But when I walked around the house, everyone seemed to be sleeping.

So I went back to bed.

I didn't wake up until 8:30 or so, when Kim came in to get Preston's shoes. She told me Dan got up at 5:30 and went into work.

Once Kim and Preston left, it was a strange feeling to be alone in a house with no kids, no adults, and no plans (for at least a few hours anyway). It felt kind of like... vacation! I called Dan and told him I was up, and then I just lounged around, surfing the Internet, eating peanut butter toast, and watching TV.

A visit to renderTHIS!

Dan owns a company called renderTHIS!, which creates 3D renderings of buildings before they're built. Check out this amazing work they do:

I'd never seen his new office, so he took me over to check it out. The office was dark (the shades pulled tight against the Phoenix sun), and it evoked a creative, modern mood. My favorite part of the office was a preview room, complete with high-definition projector, screen, chairs, and 5.1 sound system. Dan played me the beginning of No Country for Old Men so I could see this preview room in action.

P.F. Chang's

After the renderTHIS! office, we picked up Kim and drove to P.F. Chang's. I don't know if it's because I live in Seattle, which has a crazy highway system, but the grid system of Phoenix and surrounding area always confuses me. Everything looks the same to me with miles of sub-highways that only connect at right angles to other highways. And it always seems like people are driving way too fast.

We had to wait 15 minutes at P.F. Chang's to get seated. The topic of the lunch conversation was the challenge of raising kids. Between Dan and Kim, they have four kids (including one teen). We mostly talked about the challenges of having a teen in your house, which I'm not looking forward to.

A movie before Rush

Dan thought it would be a good idea to drive out to the Cricket Pavilion area early, which is in Glendale. Even at 3:00 p.m., we encountered heavy traffic. Sadly, I was right at home again.

When we got out to Glendale, we still had a few hours to kill -- so we decided to see a movie. We stopped at WestGate City Center, a beautiful outdoor mall, with one of the biggest AMC movie theater I've ever seen. We wanted to see Iron Man, but it didn't start until 7:00 p.m. Instead, we opted to see 21. Dan enjoys playing poker, and I enjoy watching Dan play, so we thought it would be a good choice.

We were the only ones in the theater until a couple joined us right before start time. (I must admit, it's always a little strange to have a semi-private showing of a movie in a theater.) The movie was just OK (two stars out of four), but it was still fun to see a flick with Dan -- something we haven't done together since Star Trek: First Contact.

On the way out to the car, we stopped at McFarlane, which is a company that Todd McFarlane started in Phoenix that makes detailed models of characters from movies, comics, musicians, and more. Todd McFarlane is the creator of Spawn and has one of the largest sports memorabilia collections. Dan had never heard of McFarlane, and I'd only seen a few of his toy creations (the Predator alien). One thing's for sure: the craftsmanship of these toys is amazing. They even had some figures from Lost, the TV series. We didn't buy anything, but we made a note to try and visit one of the McFarlane stores before I went back to Seattle.

After that, we drove to Cricket Pavilion to see Rush.

Labels: Phoenix, Rush, Travels, Vacation

I flew down to Phoenix from Seattle today. It's a relatively short flight of two hours, but it felt longer for some reason. Maybe it was all that turbulence. Because it gets so hot in Phoenix, the air gets pretty choppy by mid-afternoon and early evening -- so the final approach can be a little rough.

On the flight down, I talked to a nice woman who was knitting a hat. I'd never seen the type of knitting instructions she was using, so she showed me how it worked. I found out she was flying down to Phoenix because her 80-year-old mom was getting a pacemaker.

After I arrived, my friend Dan (we met in third grade) met me at the airport and then we drove off into the horrendous Phoenix traffic. Of course, it didn't bother me much being from Seattle and all--where the traffic is probably worse.

We drove to his home in Tempe, hung out with his kids, ordered pizza, and watched "Deal or No Deal" for two hours. Neither of us knew why we spent that much time watching the show -- except that there's something pleasantly annoying about Howie Mandel.

Dan put me in the "Princess Room," and when I turned out the light the ceiling glowed with stars. I'm always surprised at how stars on the ceiling make me happy. What didn't make me happy was the cold I'd caught from one of my kids before I left Seattle. But that's just part of the job of being a parent.

While I'm here in Phoenix, Dan and I are going to catch the Rush show at the Cricket Pavilion. We ended up fifth row tickets, which is closer than I've been in a while.

Labels: Phoenix, Rush, Vacation

This was day six of my east coast Rush tour

This morning, while Ray slept in, Monica and I got up and ate a continental breakfast at the Country Inn Suites. Practically everyone in the room had been at the Rush show the night before, including a family with two young girls, whom I'd seen at the show. I thought about how much easier it was to attend a show without your kids.

Snorefest 2007

When we went back upstairs, Ray was already up. Now, it must be said that before we went on this trip Monica told me that Ray was the best snorer she or her husband Steve had ever heard (enough to drive Steve to sleep in the bathtub on one trip). So, I knew I had some serious competition. But then Ray told me, "Andy, you had a gold medal performance last night." I'm not sure if that's an award that I want, but it's always nice to be recognized by one of the best ;-).

Highway 7 to Toronto

We left the hotel a little later and stopped by Tim Horton's again (for Ray), and then we drove out of town. I knew I'd only seen one small part of Ottawa and hoped to return one day to walk around the actual city.

The drive between Ottawa on Toronto on the two-lane Highway 7 was beautiful, with the Fall colors starting to ignite across the countryside. Here are some pictures of what it looked like:

Toronto traffic jam

When we got outside Toronto area, we found out that the road we wanted to take, Don Valley Parkway, was closed. My GPS couldn't seem to figure out any other way to go, so we stopped and asked for directions.

Once we started driving again, we found that we (and the rest of all Toronto drivers) were stuck in a mess of a traffic jam, trying to get into downtown. Ray asked several drivers out the window if there was any other way to get into downtown, and they all said there wasn't. Most of the time we were driving on Danforth street and even passed the famous "Danforth and Pape" crossroad (the name of a section in the Rush instrumental La Villa Strangiato).

Earlier in the week I'd talked to Ed Stenger, who runs the amazing Rushisaband.com website, about meeting in person. Given that we both run Rush-related websites, we end up periodically talking in e-mail, and I thought it would be fun to meet. But the traffic ended up ruining our initial plans of me getting dropped off at the hotel. I called Ed and told him to meet us at The Spaghetti Factory, which he thought sounded great.

Spaghetti Factory - take two

Ray had called in reservations for a semi-large party of people. It was a good thing, because unlike the night of the first show, the place was packed. After we got our seats, I walked out into the lobby area and found Ed. I actually recognized him from the picture on his website.

Dinner was great again. Monica's friend Heidi joined us, too, whom I'd met at several other Rush shows on the west coast. Ed and I talked "webmaster" shop, and also talked about other shows on the tour -- namely the show he'd seen in Cleveland, which Heidi also attended.

In Toronto, Ed was attending RushCon, and he told us about some of the things he'd learned there. He'd met Sam Dunn, who was filming a documentary about Rush. Dunn's earlier documentary was Metal: A Headbanger's Journey, which I haven't seen yet.

After dinner we walked to the Air Canada Center. Here's a picture of Ed and me standing in front:

Now I was ready for my last 2007 Rush show.

Labels: Concerts, Rush, Rush east coast tour 2007, Toronto, Travels, Vacation

This was day five of my east coast Rush tour.

Today, Ray joined Monica and me for our final leg of our journey: Rush shows in Ottawa and Toronto.

As we drove from Buffalo to Syracuse, I sat in the back trying to fix my Palm 700w Smartphone. The day before I had overloaded it by asking it to do too much (GPS, mail, Internet, switching between cell networks in the US and Canada). After talking to Verizon tech support, they told me I probably needed to do a hard reset, which would basically erase all my settings and data. I did the hard reset and got my phone up and running again.

Ottawa, Ontario

By early evening, we arrived in Ottawa at our hotel, the Country Inn Suites. This hotel was definitely a step up from the Day's Inn in Tanawanda and Toronto. It was also popular with Rush fans, as just about everyone walking around wore a Rush shirt or was talking about the show. One guy in the elevator had a "This is my 50th Rush Show" shirt.

After a brief break in the hotel room, we headed out for dinner at a Wendy's and Tim Horton's combo restaurant. I opted for a sandwich at Tim Horton's, as I'd already had a hamburger at McDonald's earlier. After that, it was back to the motel to park our car.

Walking to the show

Instead of driving to the venue, the hotel recommended that we walk, as it was only about a mile away. They said it would be better because it would take us less time to walk back after the show. I was all for getting a little exercise after sitting in the car all day.

At the entrance of Scotiabank Place, we met Monica and Ray's friend B-man. Many Rush fans will know B-man as Bill Banasiewicz, the author of Visions, the first official biography of Rush. (I had met him once before on the Vapor Trails tour at the Scranton, PA, show.) We spent time talking about the first Toronto show. B-man told us about sightseeing around Ottawa, as well as what it was like to take his mom to the Toronto show earlier that week to celebrate show number 300 (she liked it, but he didn't think she'd be going again any time soon). We also talked about the rumors of Rush adding shows in 2008. B-man told Ray that he "needed to talk to Howard Ungerleider" to get the scoop. Ray agreed.

The show

Once inside, Monica and I found that we had amazing seats. Not only were they in the first 12 rows on the floor, but we were right behind a wheelchair row -- with an aisle in front of that row. Ray's seats were a little farther back.

Once the band started, Monica and I kept commenting to each other about how great these seats were. The band played Limelight beautifully, and in The Digital Man near the end, Alex played to a guy standing on the side who looked (I swear) like Santa Claus. It was hilarious to see "Santa" rocking out with Alex.

Throughout the rest of the first set, it became apparent that all the members of Rush were either tired, unfocused, or on autopilot. Geddy called the album "Snakes & Ladders," and before the song Mission he said, "This is Hold Your Fire." The major musical mistake came from Neil in Dreamline, when he went into the first chorus early (the big snare fill). When Geddy called the album by the wrong name, he quickly joked, "Jeez, I'm getting so old I can't even remember the name of the album!"

Intermission

Ray, B-man, Monica, and I went up to the concession stand, ate popcorn, drank water, and talked about the show. To fans like Ray and Bill, who saw many more shows than the average person, the set we had just seen was a disaster.

Monica and I listened to their complaints, but didn't add much to them. As I'll always say, I'm just happy that Rush is still out touring and sounding great. There are going to be nights when they don't sound quite as good, as that's just the nature of performing. Still, a "bad" night for Rush is still at a higher level than most bands.

Set 2

When the band came back out, they played with a vengeance, ripping through the Snakes & Arrows songs with the usual passion. One thing that Monica and I noticed: During the beginning of The Larger Bowl when Geddy is singing alone, Neil was actively scanning the audience. Neil even wrote on his blog about how much enjoys each audience -- their signs, their faces, etc. -- and this seemed like one of the few times he can just look around at everyone without playing.

By the time Rush got to Subdivisions, the audience had turned up the intensity one or two levels. During The Spirit of Radio, I turned around and watched all those thousands of hands clapping in unison during the chorus -- always an incredible sight.

One problem of being in our primo seats was that the seat moochers tried to stand with us and also break through security standing in front of the first 10 rows. Security did a good job for the most part, except one guy was able to talk his way through at the end of the show. I watched one woman yell into the security guard's ear, backed up, and then gave him a flirtatious look. I can only imagine what she had said, but by the guard's reaction I assumed it was sexual.

In our section, people would just come up and stand behind me, and then I'd back up into them, and they'd look at me like, "Hey, what's the problem, man?" We got them booted as quickly as possible. But this kind of distraction can be a real drag after the tenth or fifteen time.

By the end of the show, Rush had redeemed itself and come up to the level I'd seen at the other three shows. On the way out of the venue, we stopped at the soundboard area. As Ray waited to talk to Howard Ungerleider, as he'd promised B-man, the security guards kept trying to get us to leave. Ray stood his ground. Finally, Ray asked Howard, "What's the story with 2008?"

Howard looked at him and said, "Oh, we're going out for six months in 2008."

We had our confirmation that the band was indeed going back out on tour in 2008. We discussed this news and other aspects of the show on the walk back to the motel. The traffic jam on Palladium Drive was awful, and we were glad not to be stuck in it.

Labels: Concerts, Rush, Rush east coast tour 2007, Travels, Vacation

This was the second half of day four of my east coast Rush tour.

After Port Dalhousie, Monica and I drove to the Niagara Falls area. First, we drove around on the Canadian side of the Falls, which looked more like Las Vegas, with its hotels, casinos, and flashing tourist traps. The falls themselves were in the distance, a cloud of water vapor rising up like smoke.

After a twenty-minute wait, we crossed the border to the American side, which seemed more run down, at least by the border crossing. After finding free parking, we walked over to the park alongside the falls. It was beautiful, but not what I thought it would be.

I didn't realize that there are actually two parts to Niagara Falls -- Bridal Veil Falls on the American side, and Horseshoe Falls on the Canadian side. The image of Niagara Falls that most people think of is Horseshoe Falls. I learned that less than 10% of the water flows over American side. 

One of the recommendations I'd received from the locals was to take the Maid of the Mist boat tour, which travels past Bridal Veil Falls and near Horseshoe Falls.

Monica and I bought our tickets, took an elevator down to the water -- where they give you a thin, blue plastic poncho, which you can keep as a souvenir if you want -- and waited in line for the boat. Our boat ended up being the "St. Catherines."

Once the boat left the dock, we floated by Bridal Veil Falls, and then headed toward the main event. I wasn't prepared for how much Horseshoe Falls would overwhelm my senses. First, you're completely surrounded by a curtain of water that reaches up 170 feet (52 meters). The roar is deafening. The mist that looked like smoke from far away rains down like a spring downpour. The falls themselves are obscured by the mist, giving you the strange sensation that they could be only a few feet away or hundreds of feet away. And the power of all that water coming down creates rapids that toss the boat like a bathtub toy. In that moment of communion with nature, I can honestly say I was awestruck.

Here are some pictures of what it looked like to be that close to Horseshoe Falls:

I later learned that the water flowing over the falls has been cut in half (from 5.5 billion gallons to 2.25 billion gallons per hour) to create hydroelectric power. One startling fact is that Niagara Falls is the largest producer of electric power in the world.

Finally, we took the elevator up to an observation platform and saw a great view of Bridal Veil falls, with the smoke rising in the distance from Horseshoe Falls.

Niagara Falls has joined a select few natural experiences in my life that have left me speechless. The other experiences include: a total solar eclipse in 1979, a total lunar eclipse that I watched from Gasworks Park in Seattle, seeing the Grand Canyon for the first time, and seeing Mount Rainier for the first time.

If you're ever in this area of the US, make sure you go out of your way to see Niagara Falls.

Check out a webcam of Niagara Falls as it looks right now.

Labels: Rush, Rush east coast tour 2007, Travels, Vacation

This was the first half of day four of my east coast Rush tour.

Monica and I left Toronto by 11:00 today, and drove on the QEW toward Buffalo. Along the way, we planned on stopping in the Port Dalhousie area of St. Catharines, and then Niagara Falls.

Having read all of Neil Peart's books and articles, I'd read a lot about Port Dalhousie (pronounced "Da-looozy" by natives), where Neil grew up, so I'd always wanted to go there.

Lakeside Park

The first place we stopped in Port Dalhousie was Lakeside Park. When we opened our car doors, we were blasted with the stench of what smelled like a sewer (even for my poor sense of smell). The closer we walked to the shore of Lake Ontario, the worse the smell got. (I found out later the smell is due to decomposing algae on the shoreline.)

The merry-go-round is still there, and its still "only 5 cents." But it was closed, so I didn't get to see it. But later I read that it's a carved, wooden merry-go-round that is one of the last of its kind, and was restored in the 1970s by local residents.

When I go to a new place, I always try to connect it to other places I've been. Port Dalhousie seemed a little like Washington State's Port Townsend because of the old buildings along the waterfront area. But the marina and the lighthouses reminded me of parts of the Oregon Coast or even Northern California. It definitely had its own "feel."

I had also wondered how Port Dalhousie was connected to St. Catharines, since I'd heard that Neil had grown up in both places. The answer, however, had been right there in "A Port Boy's Story," which I'd read many times. As Peart writes:

"In 1956, we moved to a brand-new split-level on Dalhousie Avenue -- then Queen Street, before the imperialist forces of St. Catharines invaded Port Dalhousie, in 1961, and amalgamated it (like Saddam Hussein amalgamated Kuwait, it seems to me)."

Murphy's

Monica and I were hungry, so we walked into "Old Port Dalhousie" to find a restaurant. The place we found, Murphy's Restaurant, was a fine establishment decorated with a nautical theme throughout. Our server was easygoing, and her intense lime-green eyes seemed to glow in the afternoon sunlight. We asked her about the "football field" we'd seen from the road, and she said that what we'd actually seen were the grandstands for the yearly Royal Henley Regatta. I had rowed at the University of Washington and knew that rowing was another important sport in Canada, like hockey, but I had never known that they had a big regatta in Port Dalhousie.

'Shroom Synchronicity

After eating we walked back to Lakeside Park, and I decided to use the washroom there (someone had vandalized the exterior of the washrooms to just "Shrooms," which Monica and I thought was funny). When I was inside, the radio was blasting through ceiling speakers. The DJs started taking about the Rush concert the night before. They said something to the effect of: "For those of you who left the Rush concert early last night, the band has just finished its 200th encore and the show is finally over."

Then the DJ started criticizing Rush lyrics. To prove his point about how bad they were, he read "Working Man" in its entirety, and then he went on to "2112," reading both the prose sections and the lyrics.

Now here was a moment you don't have too often. I was in the bathroom at Lakeside Park, the place Neil Peart used to work and play in his childhood, and the subject of the radio broadcast was Rush, and, more specifically, Neil Peart's lyrics (at least for "2112"). This was true synchronicity (a meaningful coincidence, per the Jungian definition), and it made me smile. By the time I left the bathroom, the DJs were still reading from "2112." For disliking the lyrics so much, I was surprised that they spent so much time on it.

"The air is thick today!"

After that, Monica and I drove around Port Dalhousie a little more, looking for places that Neil had mentioned in his writings. But both of us knew that these places had changed significantly since Neil's childhood. Still, it was a beautiful town and one that seemed like a nice place to grow up or visit on a three-day weekend if you lived nearby.

But the stench of all that decomposing algae will always be associated with Port Dalhousie in my memory. One local man, who was getting in his car at the same time I was at Lakeside Park, proclaimed, "The air is thick today!" I asked him if it was always this bad, and he said this was the worst he'd ever smelled. And then he tore off in his pickup to get away from the smell.

Labels: Rush, Rush east coast tour 2007, Toronto, Travels, Vacation

This was day three of my east coast Rush tour.

I woke up late again, but was excited to go out for a "sit-down" breakfast at Golden Griddle, just across the street from our hotel. Monica and I both got the buffet, because we wanted a little of everything.

Toronto subway and street vendors

After breakfast, we went on the Toronto subway for the first time. We got off at the Union stop, and then walked toward the CN tower. This part of Toronto is home to skyscrapers, hotels, banks, and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation headquarters. It was also home to traveling restaurants (vans serving food), from ice cream to hotdogs to "chunky fries."

An artist was just setting up his display on the sidewalk, when I stopped and asked him if he had any Rush pictures. He immediately pulled out two or three matted, charcoal drawings (copies, not originals) of familiar Rush pictures, and said, "Twenty dollar."

I smiled and said, "Maybe later."

"Fifteen dollar," he said.

I smiled again and said, "I'll come back after I do some sightseeing. I don't want to carry it around."

"OK, you first customer today. Only ten dollar!"

I had entered a negotiation without even knowing it, and now he'd cut his price in half! Because I wanted to give Ray a special thank-you for his hospitality in Buffalo (and this picture was certainly a unique Rush artifact), I agreed to "ten dollar."

The CN Tower is Closed

While I'd heard about a power outage earlier in the morning, I didn't know it was affecting downtown Toronto until we walked into a tourist shop and the lady could only take cash (the credit card machine was down). I then noticed all the lights were off, too. It was during our transaction, when I was buying Drew a T-shirt, that the lights came back on. I told the lady, "I guess I'm your lucky charm."

Because the power had been out, I realized the CN tower was probably closed, too. Sure enough, there were security guards standing in front of the ticket office, telling people they "would be open soon." I looked up the tower and saw one of the elevators stuck about two-thirds of the way down. I wondered if people had been stuck in there since the power outage began.

Instead of going up the tower, we walked around Rogers field (formally the Toronto Skydome), where the Blue Jays play ball, and looked at the interesting artwork and view toward the water. I especially liked this artwork called "The Audience: Part I":

As we started walking toward the waterfront, I noticed how this part of Toronto reminded me more and more of San Diego, with its harbor and buildings built up against the shoreline of Lake Ontario. I guess the 80-degree F. temperature helped that perception, too. I could understand why people would want to live in this city -- at least during the summer.

Monica and I found our way to the Air Canada Centre (ACC) to see Rush's buses near the back. We didn't understand that we could walk through the bus area and into the front of the ACC. Instead, we walked back to the subway and rode back to our hotel for a short break.

Parliament building

Our next stop was the Parliament Building, where Rush had shot the cover of their now famous, breakthrough album "Moving Pictures." It's a beautiful building with old-world architecture and details that you don't usually see in cities on the west coast (although Vancouver, B.C. has a few of them).

Other Rush fans were also stopping by the building to get their picture of the famed building. Monica took at a picture of two people who had come all the way from Japan to see Rush.

We went in the building and met Janet, a nice woman who worked in the gift shot. We talked for about 15 minutes about the building. She told us about being an extra in the movie Murder at 1600, and getting a speaking role opposite Wesley Snipes. I told her I'd rent the movie to see her at some point.

When I went outside, I found Monica sitting in the shade of a monument. She was talking to her husband on her cell phone. I also sat down with her and tried to call a few people, but had no luck. This was one of the most peaceful moments on the trip for me, sitting there in front of the Moving Pictures building enjoying the warm air.

Walking back from Rosedale

On the way back to our hotel, we decided to ride farther north to the Rosedale stop and then walk back. The mix of new and old architecture along Yonge street was interesting, and something I've only see on the east coast of the U.S.

Rush in Toronto

Before the show, Monica and I met Ray and another friend Paul at the Spaghetti Factory. I've been to this restaurant chain in Seattle and Vancouver, B.C., and this was just as good. There's nothing like spaghetti and meatballs before a concert -- especially when you're really hungry (and I'd been walking all day).

We walked to the ACC and through the tour busses to the front of the building. When we walked in the venue, I was surprised how cold it was (although I wasn't complaining; I always get hot at concerts). We were seated about 15 rows up on Alex's side. From that vantage point, we could see Alex's tech working on all the guitars, adjusting things, etc.

Right before the house lights went down, Geddy's daughter Kyla (I'd seen a picture of her so I recognized her) and a pack of friends went up on the stage and added notes to Alex's Barbie Doll collection (I couldn't see what they were adding). We noticed how people were walking all over the arena with Snakes & Arrows laminates -- friends of the band, or a friend of a friend of the band. As Ray said later, "Laminates were everywhere!"

The lights went down, and Rush launched into their set. I saw that they'd abandoned the shtick with Geddy wiping off his face with a napkin and replaced it with Alex just starting Limelight, and then just waiting for Geddy to get onstage. It seemed to work better without the napkin wiping bit. The band played as well as they had when I'd seen them in July.

The only problem for us was that we were sitting on an aisle, and every single person sitting in our row and the rows around us was going to get beer every five minutes. There was a guy in front of us with a cane who seemed to keep falling asleep (or passing out), and people in his row would tap him on the shoulder -- sometimes multiple times -- to wake him up so they could go get their beer. A few times he almost fell down the steps as he stood up.

Once intermission came along, Monica and I talked about how bad the distractions were with all the people around us. She noticed that there were rows of seats available right next to the stage, a mere twenty feet from where Alex was standing. We decided to move down. A few people with laminates walked into our row and sat down to watch the show. Nobody told us to move. The only problem was the pyrotechnics during a few songs -- extremely loud and extremely hot that close to the stage!

During one song, a guy behind me yelled into my ear, "What is the guitar player's name?" I told him. Later he asked if he could buy my earplugs (I had brought my expensive ones that weren't for sale).

Alex seemed to have friends or family in the first row next to him, as he kept looking over and smiling. Geddy came over a few times, too.

When Neil played his solo, I took out my earplugs and watched him intently, as usual. I saw him lose his stick on the underside of his ride cymbal during his snare section -- and then he grabbed it before it dropped. Having had this happen to me a few times during a performance, I could only smile with understanding (only I was never playing to 15,000 people). I'm sure hardly anyone noticed.

I've noticed that the better my seats at a concert, the faster the time passes. This was no exception. Soon, the band was playing YYZ, and then the lights came on.

Monica and I took the subway back to the hotel, got some pizza from a place right next door, and talked about the show. I had inadvertently blown out my voice from singing along with the band, but that didn't stop me from talking.

I didn't fall asleep until 2:00 a.m.

Labels: Concerts, Rush, Rush east coast tour 2007, Toronto, Travels, Vacation

This was day two of my east coast Rush tour.

I found it difficult to get out of bed, as did Monica. Something about being three hours ahead definitely throws off your system. Monica got up, showered, and brought me the dregs of the continental breakfast, and we were in the car by 11:30 or so.

For this trip, I bought a Navibe GB735 Bluetooth GPS receiver for my Treo 700 Smartphone, and I got it up and running as we drove from the hotel. I downloaded Live Search to the Treo, which displays GPS maps. I punched in the for directions to Toronto, and the GPS lead us to the right freeway

Once we got through the Canadian border (about a 30 minute wait), we drove on the QEW to Toronto. On this highway, we passed through Neil Peart's home town of St. Catherines (Port Dalhousie), although we didn't stop. We were in Toronto by 3:00 p.m.

Toronto - First Impressions

As you drive closer to Toronto, the spire of the CN tower is like a beacon to the city center. As you get closer, you see a huge windmill churning near the waterfront. I guess even though I knew Toronto was on Lake Ontario, I never pictured it with a waterfront in my mind's eye.

As we drove into Toronto, the big-city energy that I've only felt in cities like San Francisco, Boston, and Vancouver, B.C., grew stronger. On Yonge Street, the longest continuous street in the world, the city seemed to become like what I've imagined New York or Chicago to be (I've never been to either of those cities). Crowds of people waited on corners for lights to change. Cars honked and pushed up the street. Buildings towered overhead. Then we arrived at our hotel, the downtown Day's Inn.

Hard Rock Cafe - Toronto

After checking with the hotel (we couldn't check in until around 4:00 or so), we walked down Yonge Street to the Hard Rock cafe. We were hoping to be able to sit in the booth next to Geddy Lee's bass, but a couple was already sitting there. While Monica and I ate Hard Rock hamburgers, we looked around at all the music memorabilia that makes the Hard Rock famous, including an Alex Lifeson Paul Reed Smith guitar.

When we walked into the gift shop, I noticed a glass booth next to the exit with a Q107 logo. Monica pointed out that Kim Mitchell, of the Canadian band Max Webster (who opened for Rush in the 80's), was one of the DJs sitting in the glass booth. When a fan came by with his family and knocked on the glass, Kim was all too happy to come out and sign his shirt and talk. What a cool guy.

Outside the Hard Rock, I took in Eaton Square, which is the closest I've ever come to something like Times Square. Huge TVs and billboards create a vortex of information that was both hypnotic and disgusting.

Massey Hall

After lunch, Monica walked me over to Massey Hall, where Rush's now-famous first live album was recorded, "All the World's a Stage." The hall itself is medium-sized, with old-world brick architecture (the hall was built in 1894). Other than the first live Rush album being recorded there, I don't know much about the hall. I did see that current bands playing Massey included diverse acts like John Scofield and Kelly Clarkson.

Sam's

The venerable record store headquarters for Sam the Record Man was located in Toronto until earlier this year, when it went out of business. Sam's had not only been a fixture on Yonge street, but had been one of the early forces in helping Rush gain an audience. Fortunately, the famous building front hasn't been torn down yet. While I know the record industry is in the midst of a sea change, its sad to see stores like Sam's go out of business.

Incredible Hulk 2008

On the way up Yonge Street, past Sam's, I noticed a lot of Hollywood-style camera lights and barriers. I asked an official-looking woman with a laminate around her neck what they were filming, and she said, "The Incredible Hulk." Evidently, Edward Norton is David Banner in this one. While I find it odd that they're making another Incredible Hulk, after one was released with Eric Bana only in 2003, I do like Edward Norton (who also worked on the screenplay for this movie).

As with many American movies, Toronto is a stand-in for New York for "Hulk" -- and many of the storefronts on Yonge Street had been transformed into Harlem. I hadn't even noticed the Apollo Theater replica -- but if you've never seen a city before, you wouldn't know the difference. I made a note to return to see them filming.

Maple Leaf Gardens

Monica walked me over to Maple Leaf Gardens, a famous hockey and Rush venue, that is now closed. Fortunately, the Gardens were right next to our hotel. Back in the day, Rush would play two or three nights at this arena. But like so many of the arenas in the United States and Canada, they are being replaced with newer, state-of-the-art venues with luxury boxes, less leg room, and other things that make the owners a lot more money.

Anthem Records

After we took a short rest in our room (and checked in), Monica drove me by Anthem Records, the business office for Rush in Toronto. This is where the management of the band works, although there's nothing to indicate this on the outside. If you call ahead, you can request a brief tour of the office, which includes some album artwork and gold records.

Orbit Room

Then it was up to Alex Lifeson's bar on College Street called the Orbit Room. Being that it was only 8:00 p.m., it wasn't even open yet -- so we walked down the street and had a great Thai dinner. On the way back, we didn't go in the Orbit Room, as we knew we'd have to pay a cover for the band there and we were getting tired.

We went back to the hotel and called it a night.

Labels: Rush, Rush east coast tour 2007, Toronto, Travels, Vacation

I'm traveling with my friend Monica Z to a series of Rush shows on the East Coast and Ontario. Today, we traveled from Seattle to Buffalo, with a layover in Detroit.

My day started at 5:40 a.m., which is the earliest I've gotten up in about a year. I drove to the airport, parked in a shuttle lot, and made it to the airport by 7:00. The line at the Northwest Airlines ticket counter was longer than I expected, and the security line was practically a mile. But I made it to the gate by 8:10 a.m.

Monica and I met up on the plane, and we settled in for the 3-1/2 hour flight. As always, we were able to talk almost the entire way about a host of subjects including music, movies, work, and what we were going to do in Toronto and Buffalo.

On the way into Detroit, Monica pointed out the patterns of clouds outside the window. They looked like sand dunes or waves.

Detroit and the broken plane

If you've never been to Detroit, it's probably one of the most futuristic airports in the United States, with its elevated indoor train, myriad screens, and metallic architecture. It seems like it could be a space port. It's also immense. We must have walked a mile to our new gate. When we got to A11, we noticed our departure time had moved back two hours. The guy at the desk said, "I guess I'll tell you what's going on. We've got a broken plane."

Monica and I went to eat lunch at Max and Erma's in the terminal. After we ordered, Monica thought she'd better check our flight information again. She went out to the information screen and came back to report the flight had moved from 6:30 to 5:30, which meant we only had about 40 minutes or so to get to the plane. After a few more minutes, she went and checked again, and the flight was now scheduled to depart at 5:10! Needless to say, we grabbed our food to go and ran to our gate.

Fortunately, we weren't late, and the plane didn't take off until 5:30 (they'd unloaded the plane's cargo when they found out it was broken, only to have to reload it once the plane was fixed).

Detroit to Buffalo

Monica and I didn't sit next to each other on the flight from Detroit to Buffalo, but I ended up sitting next to a nice older woman from Buffalo, who didn't mind me eating my club sandwich and fries in front of her. We talked about everything, but what I found most interesting was her story about her 100-plus year-old father, who had recently passed away. She told me about how he had dressed, fed, and gone to the bathroom by himself almost until the day he died. When I hear stories like this, it makes me smile.

Touching down and eating at Duff's

Once we got into Buffalo, Monica's friend Ray met us outside the gate (which was really nice of him). He guided us to our Days Inn motel, and then led us to the place for wings in Buffalo --Duff's Famous Wings. As Ray said, "After tonight, your life will change forever."

I'm not a huge wings fan, but I have to say I was impressed with Duff's. We got the medium-level spice, and it had a salty, vinegar twang. I got the feeling from Ray, his friend Kevin who joined us, and Monica, that Duff's is an institution, like Chinook's in Seattle.

After that, we went to Ray's house to meet his wife and three sleeping kids. Unfortunately, the spicy wings were enough to throw my gastrointestinal system overdrive and I needed to escape to the family's only bathroom for a while. After I emerged in embarrassment, asking if they had a spray to clear out the bathroom (there was no fan), Monica, Ray, and I went downstairs for the Buffalo Rushfest 2007. (It must be said here that Ray has an amazing Rush collection.)

We sat and talked into the night, even though Ray had to get up for work the next day (Ray says about staying up, "If there's still four digits on the clock, I consider that a success."). He had received the new Rush tribute album Lush, which we listened to and promptly turned off.

When we returned to the hotel, I fought with my computer trying to get on the "high-speed wi-fi connection," as it was advertised. (We found out later that they have problems with it every week.)

Labels: Rush, Rush east coast tour 2007, Toronto, Travels, Vacation

We got back to the room and started up the indoor helicopter immediately. It took a while, but Cameron got the hang of the controls. I tried to hook up the DVD player to the TV, but it didn't work very well. I realized I needed an audio cord now. Then Drew had a meltdown. I thought it was time for a nap, but he faked me out.

Labels: Vacation

We drove to Lake Chelan today from Seattle, a 3-1/2 hour drive of mountains, forests, and finally rivers and lakes. Drew slept for about half the drive, and Cameron just looked out the window.

As we passed Wenatchee, I saw the purplish clouds hanging over the area we were driving to. And sure enough, we were soon driving through a storm -- the kind that prompts you to put the windshield wipers on "high."

Once we got to Campbell's at Lake Chelan, the rain stopped and was replaced by high winds. Brenda went to the lobby and checked us in, and Cameron and I unloaded the car (no small feat with the amount of bags we travel with). This trip had two purposes: business for Brenda, and vacation for the boys and me. And from the moment we arrived, Brenda was working.

We got another waterfront room, which is a mixed blessing. Once Drew sees that water, he wants outside. In the picture below, our room is where the red arrow is pointing:

When you walk out the sliding glass door and go a few steps, here's the view:

I took the boys to dinner in the upstairs cafe at Campbells, and because Brenda's had a meeting cancel she was able to join us. After that, Brenda had more work to do and I hung out with the kids in the room.

Of course later it took us until 11:00 or so to get Drew to sleep (he always does this when he takes a nap).

Labels: Vacation