The Mysterious World Of Ticket Brokers...

Taylor Swift is coming to Vancouver in September, and I wanted to buy tickets for a very special little girl who is turning 12 in April. I thought it would be a nice surprise to slip the tickets into her birthday card, and perhaps she would like to take one little friend with her, along with her Mom. That would mean three tickets. Not a big deal, right? Wrong. I haven't bought concert tickets lately, but the process seems to have turned into a huge scam. Ticket brokers -- and I use the term loosely -- buy up all the tickets, and then sell them for hugely inflated prices, sometimes for up to ten times what the tickets are worth depending on the seat locations.  And purchasing an odd number of tickets is impossible.  Three?  Out of the question.

I spent yesterday morning negotiating with several ticket brokers, trying to get the best tickets for the best price. The prices they were charging were all over the map, and I managed to get some good seats for a fairly reasonable price, as far as ticket brokers' prices go.  So then I trundled off to meet the robber ticket broker at Metrotown so we could make the drop.  He turned out to be a rather nice young man who was using this as a business to pay his way through university.  I asked him what he was studying, and he said "I'm in the School of Commerce at the University of British Columbia, majoring in marketing".  I told him he was going to go far.  He said he buys whole blocks of seats and then sells them, but sometimes it's risky, depending on the concert.  Taylor Swift was a sure thing, however, and all the brokers made a lot of money.  None of it, of course, goes to Taylor Swift.

I was amazed at the demographic of people I was dealing with yesterday -- one of them was a young Chinese girl.  I told her I am obviously in the wrong business, going to a nine-to-five job every day.  However, I find the practice of "brokering" tickets appalling; it is legalized thievery.  I don't mind paying the extra money for the tickets for Marigold.  She is a very special young lady, and she is worth it.  But I can't imagine the millions of dollars that are being siphoned away from the performers, and there's absolutely no way to stop it.

In my conversations yesterday, I learned all about stage set-up, sight lines, row heights, seat placements -- things I never knew before -- and Marigold and her Mom have very good seats.  But the main thing is, they will have a wonderful time, I hope.  Besides, the best part of any concert is the excited anticipation of it, don't you think?

My Strange Addiction

There's a new TLC reality show called My Strange Addiction, that I find ... well ... strangely addictive. Most of the folks on the show seem entirely normal, and yet they have unusual behaviours that most people would find completely bizarre. A woman named Lori is addicted to sleeping with her hair dryer -- on; Kesha eats toilet paper, at least half a roll a day. Crystal eats household cleaners -- as in Comet; Josh eats glass, light bulbs and bullets. Belinda loves rocks. She has hundreds of thousands of rocks and when she is out searching for more rocks, she falls into a trance in search of the perfect rock.

Okay, these people make me feel entirely normal, in spite of the fact that I too may have a "strange addiction". I enjoy doing laundry. How many people can say that? For most folks, doing laundry is not their favourite chore. Me? I love it. There's nothing nicer than clean, fresh sheets and towels every day. No matter what is going on in life, nothing puts it to rights more than clean laundry. I have also learned that doing a small amount of laundry every day is much easier than saving it all up until it begins to resemble Mount Kilimanjaro -- daunting and insurmountable.

Am I strange? Well, yes ... there are people who would definitely say that I'm strange. Am I addicted to doing laundry? I hope not.

Now, if I could just become addicted to dusting and vacuuming.

The Big Bang ... God Speed

There is a theory -- I guess you could call it the Big Bang Theory -- that all of the atoms that go to make up our corporal bodies were present at the moment of the Big Bang. In that regard, we are all closely connected; and since energy cannot be created or destroyed, we are all made from star dust and we will return to star dust.  Are we connected in other ways too?  Are we all one entity?  I sometimes wonder about this, because there are times when I am able to "tune in" to the universe in ways that I don't understand.  I don't try to do it, it just happens, and I don't question it when it does.  Out of nowhere a premonition, or a feeling of intuition -- a sixth sense -- will almost overwhelm me and I know for certain that it will happen.

Today at exactly 11:30 a.m. I had an acute and overwhelming feeling that I was going to watch a man die today.  All I could think was, "No, no, no, no, I don't want to see that..."

At exactly 4:30 p.m. today I watched a man die.  I thought, "If I knew his name, I would say a prayer for him."  I said one anyway.

Whoever that man was, his energy has gone back to the universe -- back to God, if you will. The people who love him will be devastated because he is gone from their lives. But he is not really gone, is he? What is the force of energy that divides living things from non-living?  Some folks believe life force is a spiritual energy, others believe the line between living things and non-living is not so clearly defined. I am beginning to believe we are all connected -- anything made up of matter or energy.  And we all have the ability to tap into this energy.  I seem to be able to do it without even trying.

I never knew that man, and I had never seen him before today, but I knew what was about to happen to him.  And I wish him God speed...

Each man's death diminishes me,
For I am involved in mankind.
Therefore, send not to know
For whom the bell tolls,
It tolls for thee. ~~~ John Donne

Music Of The Movies...

Occasionally there is a piece of music so perfectly suited to a movie, it becomes one of the main characters. Two years ago I saw a movie called "Knowing" with Nicholas Cage and Rose Byrne. It was a science fiction movie, and the music that accompanied it gave the movie an added depth and mystery that completed the movie. I have watched the movie several times, just for the mood and atmosphere of the music. I had heard the music before, but I didn't recognize it when I heard it in "Knowing". It was so perfect, I thought it had been composed just for the movie.

And then on the weekend, I saw the wonderful movie "The King's Speech". It is a beautiful movie and deserves every one of the 12 Oscar nominations it has received. The movie has taken filmmaking to the art form that it was meant to be. My favourite scene was where speech therapist Lionel Logue was encouraging King George VI to let out his feelings, and the King let lose with a barrage of expletives that made me laugh. Haven't we all wanted to do that on occasion?

In the pivotal scene of the movie, when the King was giving his famous wartime speech, I recognized a familiar piece of music. I turned to my friend Leslie and said, "Hey! That's the music from 'Knowing'". And somehow it was perfect for the scene in "The King's Speech" as well. Instead of sounding moody and atmospheric, it sounded majestic. It was the sound of an apprehensive, hesitant man becoming a great King.  It was an important part of the movie.

On the way home yesterday, the song kept playing through my head, and I remembered where I had heard it before. It had been one of my father's favourites, Beethoven's 7th Symphony. It was composed in 1812, and first played -- conducted by Beethoven -- in 1813. And today, in the 21st Century, it still sounds as fresh, modern and as beautiful as when it was first composed.

If you haven't seen "The King's Speech" yet, go -- today.

Off For The Weekend...

Today I am off to the beautiful little village of Ladner to visit Leslie, and we're going to see "The King's Speech". I will let you know what I think of it. I want to see it before Oscar night, because I have a feeling it's going to win all the a lot of awards.  The British know how to make movies.

And here is the real King George VI's wartime speech.  You can hear him pausing occasionally.



Have a great weekend, everyone...!

Where Have I Been Lately...? Russia...

Have you ever picked up a book that absorbed you so much, you were teleported to another place? Well, lately I have been teleported to Russia. Winston Churchill once described Russia as "a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma", and it is one country that has always fascinated me. If we hold a mirror up to North American society and culture, we see Russia -- ourselves in reverse. We look similar, but North America is very new civilization, and Russia is an ancient one, steeped in beautiful traditions and cultures. Russians have endured tyranny, oppression and authoritarian rule that we can't even imagine, and yet they remain more positive, upbeat -- happier -- than we are in North America. Perhaps that is the enigma.

The book "Russia" by Jonathan Dimbleby takes us on a journey with him from Murmansk in the west to Vladivostok in the east, a journey of 10,000 miles and eight time zones. We go through isolated villages and sophisticated cities. We meet people from all walks of life, intellectuals, aging rock stars, loggers, Babushkas, teenagers, and just regular, ordinary people. In this photograph, Dimbleby is interviewing two young women at a cocktail party in St. Petersburg. I thought the blonde woman looked a bit like the actress Melanie Griffith.

A friend of mine once took the train from Moscow to Leningrad, now St. Petersburg.  She sent me postcards along the way, and at the time I thought it was probably the closest I would ever get to seeing Russia.  But this book takes me there.  It's wonderful.  So, if you have been wondering where I am, I'm on my journey through Russia.  Yes, I will send you postcards along the way...

Pet Peeves...

We all have them -- pet peeves. They are usually things that would cause no one else the slightest concern, but they can drive us completely over the edge. I started to think about this yesterday when I went for lunch with a friend of mine. This is someone I love dearly, and she often invites me for lunch, and just as often I decline. Why, you ask? Well, my lovely elegant friend has a habit -- every time we have lunch together -- of blowing her nose and then leaving the offending Kleenex on the table.  It's disgusting, and I have no way of telling her that I find it offending.  Am I crazy?  Would anyone else be put off their lunch?

Bad haircuts. If you pay $60.00 for a haircut -- plus tip -- shouldn't it be reasonable to ask that the left side of your hair be the same length as the right side? Is that asking too much? Or perhaps it might actually have, oh, I don't know, some style?  I have invested in a good pair of scissors, and I now cut my own hair. I can't count the number of times I have had to come home and even up the straggly bits that don't match. It's enough to make my tear out my hair.

Not paying attention.  The longest escalator in Vancouver is at the Granville Sky Train Station. It is one of the longest escalators in the world, and it is always packed with people exiting the Sky Train.  And invariably when I ride this escalator, there is a group of people clustered together at the top, chatting and looking at their phones.  Escalators can often be dangerous, and can cause nasty accidents to toes and other appendages.  Here's an idea -- when you reach the top of an escalator, keep moving.  There are people behind you.

Vancouver is known as a city of awnings. There is a reason for that.   It rains here -- a lot... It's possible to walk along any commercial street in Vancouver and not get rained on, as long as we stay underneath the awnings. The only problem is, all the folks with umbrellas are walking under the awnings, and all of us folks without umbrellas are trying to jostle for a position ... under the awnings.

Argh...

Some of my other pet peeves are:  people who cut the crossword puzzles out of the newspapers in the coffee room;  people who cough all over the fresh produce in the supermarket; people who leave their dirty dishes on the table in the food court -- there are recycling and trash bins everywhere; throw out your garbage.

Oh, I'm not really as grumpy as I sound today. The past couple of weeks at work have been sort of ... trying.  But I prevailed and now it's Friday, it's pay day, and I have two days off to do nothing but sleep, shop, read, paint, sleep...  I might even have time to visit your blogs.  I have missed visiting you.  I hope you have a wonderful weekend, and do something fun, fun, fun...

The King's Speech...

This is a movie I haven't had the opportunity to see yet, but soon ... hopefully (Leslie?) Today it was nominated for 12 Academy Awards. That's not too shabby.

Best picture
Actor – Colin Firth
Supporting actor – Geoffrey Rush
Supporting actress – Helena Bonham Carter
Director – Tom Hooper
Original screenplay
Art direction
Cinematography
Costume design
Film editing
Sound mixing
Original score

King George VI was never meant to be King. His older brother, David, (King Edward VIII) abdicated the throne in order to marry a *gasp* divorced American woman. "Bertie", as George VI was known, became King by default. He hated the idea, and in fact he was terrified of it.

I recently read the biography of the late Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother. She was quite the gal. In her younger days she was very pretty, and regularly jaunted over to Paris to visit the nightclubs. She loved to party, and she loved her gin and tonics. The gin and tonics probably helped her to live to the ripe old age of 103.  But she was no shy, English rose.  She was tough and high-spirited; she was the strength behind the throne, and she helped Bertie overcome his stammer by arranging for him to be seen by a speech therapist. (My daughter, who is a speech therapist, has seen the movie and she says it's wonderful.)    Interestingly, sceenwriter David Seidler had suffered from a stammer when he was a child, and King George VI inspired him.  When Seidler wrote his screenplay, the Queen Mother asked him to delay publishing it until after her death.

I find the Royals interesting, and obviously Hollywood does too.  Helen Mirren won an Oscar for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II.  Dame Mirren was also nominated for an Oscar for her portrayal of Queen Charlotte in "The Madness of King George".  Cate Blanchett won two Oscars for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth I (twice), and Emily Blunt was nominated for an Oscar for her portrayal of Queen Victoria.  Add Colin Firth to that list for his portrayal of King George VI, and my guess is he will win.

And yes, ladies, I have seen Colin Firth in person, and ... yes, he is even better looking than on the screen.

Stop And Smell The Roses...

For some strange reason which I have never been able to understand, I don't particularly care for roses. On an intellectual level, I know they are beautiful and they have a wonderful fragrance, but they just don't appeal to me. In my opinion, their beauty is formal and unwelcoming, and their fragrance is too sweet.  Certain roses do look beautiful growing in a garden, but even rose gardens seem to be rather reserved and -- formal.  I have never been overjoyed if someone were to give me a bouquet of roses.

Ho-hum...

Wild roses, on the other hand, are exquisitely beautiful. They grow with abandon, and they seem to say, "Stop and stay with us awhile. Let's hang out together and enjoy the sunshine."  I have never been able to pass wild roses without stopping for a few minutes.  When I was a little girl, there were wild rose bushes at the side of the road on my way to school.  I would stop and admire them, and time stood still. I still remember the warm spring mornings, and the joy the wild roses gave me.

I have lately been contemplating making a career change, as in downsizing.  Our company is going through a major reorganization, and I am hoping (hoping...!) I am one of the folks who is to be reorganized out the door.  There comes a time when we need to concentrate on ourselves.  Working full-time, I have no time for my hobbies and interests.  I love to paint, but I have no time -- or energy -- after working flat-out every day.  The clock doesn't stop for any of us -- the seasons speed past -- spring, summer, fall, winter, spring, summer, fall, winter... What do you think, folks? Should I take the leap, and once again stop and smell the roses?  Maybe I'll even do some paintings of them...

The Guy In The Fancy Striped Vest...

I have a condition for which there is probably no cure, and there is no hope for me. It's a rare condition, and very few women suffer from it. It's probably chronic, but with the proper care, I can live symptom-free. My rare condition? I don't find George Clooney attractive. Oh, I can hear everyone gasping. "You don't find George Clooney attractive?"  No, I don't.  He's an okay actor, most of the time, if he can stop bobbing his head long enough... but other than that I can't see what all the fuss is about.  There was a scene in "The Seven Year Itch" where Marilyn Monroe says, "You think every girl's a dope. You think a girl goes to a party and there's some guy in a fancy striped vest strutting around giving you that I'm-so-handsome-you-can't-resist-me look. From this she's supposed to fall flat on her face. Well, she doesn't fall on her face."  George Clooney reminds me of the guy in the fancy striped vest.

It's sort of like rice pudding -- everyone says how delicious it is with all the lovely cinnamon and raisins, and I want to like it, but...

Mr. Clooney is a humanitarian, he has a great sense of humor ... His face is asymmetrically perfect ... I know, I know ... what am I missing?  Is there any cure for my condition?