I had been looking forward to the Nickelback concert in Saskatoon for over two months, so here's my nutshell review:
I've seen Nickelback, at least, three times and their performance on Friday night in Saskatoon was the best I've seen them perform. The floating stage was very cool and Chad Kroeger's voice was in peak form. The song selection was excellent, which isn't easy when you have the hits they do. I believe they ended up playing 16 songs in all, including the two encores. I've never understood the Nickelback haters that are out there and I'm no closer to understanding it today. Is it just cool to not like a popular rock band?
The sin of the night was that My Darkest Days only had twenty minutes of stage time, which was enough to play four songs. They have two albums and not a bad song on either album. I was fortunate to see them open for Buckcherry over a year ago and they were fantastic. They were excellent again on Friday, but they just didn't have enough time. Heck, I even missed two songs as I was still trying to get through the gate!
Now, I either had the worst seats ever for a concert or else Bush and Seether had the worst lighting ever. I don't think I laid eyes on any of the band members from either of these two groups. They did sound really good; but maybe it was a CD being blasted through the audio system. Both acts played eight songs and were impressive. Seether, like My Darkest Days, doesn't have a bad song.
If you are in Saskatoon and need a pizza fix at the hotel, I highly recommend Venice House. We ordered pizza, wings, and boneless ribs on Friday night and I can say I haven't had a meal like that in Saskatoon ever before. Of course, when your judgement is slightly impaired, be careful not to order more than you need. Four extra large pizzas, a double order of wings and a double order of ribs is way too much for six adults and three sleepy children. Ooops.
We spent the last two days of May Long Weekend at Canora Beach as our family has a seasonal campsite there. I've only been a camper for a couple of years, so I'm no expert on etiquette or anything like that, but I do feel as though I'm qualified to hand out a couple of tidbits of advise for those who don't have a lot of experience. Number one, do not park your vehicle in somebody else's lot, especially directly in front of the camper so that the people who stay at that site can't really get into the area. Should you fail to abide by this rule, make sure you do not leave your campsite and become unreachable when the other folks arrive. If you do, you may infuriate your neighbor and cause an unnecessary spike in his blood pressure. Number two, do not rummage through the campsite you have wrongly parked in. This is similar to going through one's home or back yard without their permission. And, if you fail to abide by number two, please do not help yourself to any possessions that you discover are not under lock and key. Many people would call this stealing, especially if you do not return the items.
I read a lot when I'm at the lake. Last summer, I started Ozzy Osbourne's second book "Trust Me, I'm Dr. Ozzy" and got about halfway through and didn't pick it up again until Sunday. The juvenile in me comes out when I read this stuff.
I've been hard on the Boston Red Sox so far this season; but I guess I should cut them some slack. In a game where you only need three outfielders and their top seven outfielders are all injured well, that would make a negative impact on any team. I do wish they would stop putting Clay Buchholz out to pitch every fifth day. He's so bad, I find that I'm sick for three days afterward trying to digest his human Christmas Tree performance.
Are the NHL playoffs over yet?
A good quote from Twitter this week: "You have enemies? Good, that means you have stood up for something sometime in your life."
I've been hard on the Yorkton City RCMP for their vigilance on traffic offenses near the trouble spot area on Broadway located near the Parker Quine parking lot, as there have been an incredible amount of accidents there (sense the sarcasm). The crosswalk near McDonald's just further down the street is a different story. What I would like to hear from the public through email submissions to me or through a letter to this newspaper is where do you think the trouble spots in the city are? I've volunteered my driveway on Circlebrooke Drive a couple of times, but I don't think it's ever been used to nab traffic offenders. Saturday night, I witnessed the second serious t-bone accident on Mountview and Circlebrooke in as many years. I fear there's going to be a death there and implore Yorkton City RCMP to vacate the comfort of the Parker Quine parking lot for an area on Circlebrooke that may slow people down and save lives.
Nice person mentions this week to Cheryl Kustra, Kevin Mundt, Tim Smith, Sandra Nordin, and Ben Shewchuk.
