The “Gettin’ It Out Of Our System” Reloaded Tour 2009 – Day Seven (and one-half) – New York City!!

Man, are our dogs barkin’ – we hoofed more than a furlong yesterday – even thoroughbreds wouldn’t gallop as far as we wandered in the city.

The plan was to see NYC, and that we did. Also an emotional day in the city, with reminders of the violence that can shadow a big city, this one in particular.

We started the day off by cabbing out to Ground Zero, the site of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. You’d think that would be hard enough to view, but it was the stop beforehand at Saint Paul’s Chapel that affected Mrs. That Dan Guy even more.

That’s the tiny church that survived the attacks and collapse of the twin towers, and became a staging point for the recovery efforts. They have an incredible display there which still affects you, all these years afterwards. Powerful images and remnants on display – and also a remionder of one of the odd quirks whenever we travel – visiting and snapping pictures of churches. I wonder what that’s all about?

From Ground Zero, we wandered the Financial District, and Tribeca, where my flippin’ camera battery died. Which would explain why we fell short of 1000 pictures yesterday (total, not just single day – wattaya think we are, nuts?). Mrs. That Dan Guy snapped a few on her camera phone, but nowhere near the images I might have captured. C’est la vie…

The second stop that was pretty emotional was in Soho. We stopped to view the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame, Annex NYC. Quite a facility, and loaded with rock history. A replica of the historic CBGB club, outfits and guitars from Buddy Holly, Elvis, George Harrison – handwritten lyrics from Dylan and Jim Morrison, Bruce Springsteen’s convertible from his “Born To Run” period – crazy nuts for fans.

The museum had a feature exhibit, “John Lennon, The New York City Years”, filled with items from his time in the city. Pianos he composed the final recordings of his life on - clothes, glasses, and even the Grammy he won.

The emotional part was the bloody paper bag containing the clothes we was wearing when he was murdered outside his apartment. Yoko Ono has made this a graphic plea for changes to gun laws, indicating that John was “the King Of The World – he had everything any person could want, but at the end of his life, he came back to me in a paper bag”. Sobering and powerful.

We left the Annex, and made our way out of Soho, stopping at a neighborhood restaurant for a late dinner, not too far from Washington Square Park, which we visited after our meal. This is the park where you always see chess players engaged in games, unless you stop by on holidays, and try and find them. We couldn’t even find Frisbee players.

Crushed, we moved up along 5^th Ave., straddling the borders of Greenwich Village and West Village, eventually passing through Gramercy and Chelsea before getting back to Times Square.

So, we really got a flavor of the city, in just 90 minutes of gentle strolling. Whew.

Today, we hope to see Madison Square Garden, and do some shopping before we head out to what used to be Shea Stadium, to see Sir Paul McCartney in concert. Being a stadium show, this is the first day of rain, predicted to last through the night.

Excellent. Super-good…

Chow for now!

The “Gettin’ It Out Of Our System” Reloaded Tour 2009 – Day Six (and one-half) – New York City!!

New York City, The Discovery Of, &/Or Pre-Conceived Game Plan continues to be an evolving thing, much like learning to type on a Fisher Price-sized netbook keyboard. It can be done, it just required patience and flexibility.

During our travels, we noticed that comic and ex-husband of Roseanne Barr, Tom Arnold was going to be appearing at Caroline’s, a comedy club right on Broadway. We thought that could be a genuine hoot, but have since abandoned that optional event, in lieu of trying to see as much of the city that we still have to see, as time is rapidly running out. Sorry, Tom – maybe next time.

Hey, before I forget, there’s a major American commercial going on right now here on TV (can’t remember what product – that can’t be good for the marketing campaign) that uses “Stand Tall”, by former Guess Who member Burton Cummings, from our hometown of Winnipeg in Canada.

Cool…

Anyway, trying to clear items off of our to-do list yesterday, we opted to hike out to Central Park, hence the unimaginative photo today. It is from Strawberry Fields though, so I defend my choice.

We explored Central park for about 40 minutes yesterday – I remained a fresh and vibrant flower, whilst Mrs. That Dan Guy wilted like lettuce in a toaster. Clearly, my beer and pretzel diet here is showing dividends. That’ll teach her for eating salads all the time.

We explored the aforementioned Strawberry Fields, The Lake, and The Ramble – not even one-tenth of the massive greenspace. Having gone over 40 minutes without a Starbucks, we were lagging, and needed to find our caffeine provider – almost impossible in this city – they’ve only deemed to build a single location for every block in the city - many you have to cross the street kitty-corner to access!

We endured, made it to one, and then made it back to our room alive, with coffee products.

After a break, we headed off for the sunset Harbor Lights cruise, a semi-circle boat ride around Manhattan, viewing the city skyline from the water, as well as The Statute Of Limitations. Maybe it was The Statue Of Liberty – it was large and green. A good decision, the trip was a lovely conclusion to the formal part of our explorations.

Finally, we managed to do what we’ve wanted the past few days, but kept running out of gas before we did stop in – we checked out a little piano bar for drinks and a snack – “Don’t Tell Mama”. What a howl – more singing wait staff, more incredible talent.

A cigar on the walk home, and we were two contented campers.

Today – Ground Zero, Tribeca, Soho, Little Italy, and Greenwich Village, God willing…

Chow for now!

http://www.46664.com/Home.aspx

The “Gettin’ It Out Of Our System” Reloaded Tour 2009 – Day Five (and one-half) – New York City!!

The Sunday Morning “Nobody-Asked-Me-To, But-Here-I-Go-Anyway” concert review: Mandela Day, Radio City Music Hall, New York City

(or, Why I Will Never Be A Professional Concert reviewer…)

Before we left Calgary, Mrs. That Dan Guy was doing some preliminary research, and somehow stumbled upon the event we attended last night. Mandela Day concerts have been going on for years, in cities all around the world. Last night was the first time this carnival has rolled into America, and we had tickets for the celebration of Nelson Mandela’s 91^st birthday. In..are you ready for this…THE ELEVENTH ROW!!

OK, that’s only interesting for us, but the concert itself was the most star-studded event we have ever attended. Hosted by Whoopi Goldberg, with guest appearances by Forest Whitaker, Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman, and more, the Radio City Music Hall burst at the seams with a galaxy of music stars from every genre, and every nation. It was like the NATO of Boogie…

Opening the show was disco diva Gloria Gaynor, kickin’ up her heels to “I Will Survive”. Hard to believe how much legs that song still has – even the young ladies (under 20) beside us were singing and dancing along, not missing a single beat. What a start!

From there, the blend was a mix of the best artists from Africa and South Africa, European stars, and of course, some of the top names in America. Including, but nowhere near limited to Cyndi Lauper (performing a chilling and lush duet of “Time After Time” with Lil’ Kim), Jesse McCartney, Queen Latifah (killer…killer…), and Josh Groban. Josh Groban would later duet on “You Raise Me Up” with…if you can even believe it…ARETHA FRANKLIN!! The goldarn Queen Of Soul, who practically proved beyond a doubt that Radio City Music Hall is one of the most perfect sonic environments on the face of the earth. The crowd went ape-doodie during her songs, and rightfully so.

Beyond those highlights, how about Wyclef Jean, and will.i.am of The Black-Eyed Peas? Smokin’. What if Dave Stewart of The Eurythmics performed a duet with Carla Bruni – the First Lady of France? He did! Want a monster collaboration between Alicia Keys and Angelique Kidjo? You got it last night…

All of these performances were underpinned by the astounding Soweto Gospel Choir, who performed on their own as well, but were present to augment each and every performer – to insane effect. Truth be told, there were many occasions last night we felt like we had gone over the deep end. Of sheer delight!!

Bringing this surreal evening on home was the legendary Stevie Wonder, who closed the show with his version of “Happy Birthday” for Mr. Mandela – while the entire cast of stars and performers came out to join in.

This was like anything else we have ever seen – or may ever see again. Three-and-a-half hours of nonstop glitz and glam, in support of an amazing individual. Inspiring, entertaining, and downright mind-boggling…

Oh yeah, we also toured the Empire State Building.

It’s very tall…

Chow for now!

The “Gettin’ It Out Of Our System” Reloaded Tour 2009 – Day Four (and one-half) – New York City!!

I believe we have found our new Las Vegas. New York City is so full of energy, excitement, and diversity of entertainment options, I’m not so sure we’re ever going to think of Vegas the same again…

And, we’re trying to cram every bit of each of those options in, during our short run here. For a couple of aging tourists, the bones tend to creak a bit more with every new day that dawns. We have yet to even leave Manhattan, but there’s still so much to see and do here. Today, the plan is to hoof it over to Macy’s (the one immortalized in the Christmas classic “Miracle On 34^th Street”), and from there finally trek over to the Empire State Building. Other than that, we are attending the first-ever Mandela Day concert celebration tonight, a star-studded gala at Radio City Music Hall – featuring Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Josh Groban, Morgan Freeman, and many more artists and actors. Should be positively surreal.

We started our day yesterday (once we finally dragged our sorry carcasses out of bed) with “brunch” at Ellen’s Stardust Diner, a retro café that features singing servers. But not your run-of-the-mill singing servers- all of these platter jockeys are currently IN Broadway productions of one sort or another, and was that ever obvious when they each took their turn at the microphones. Holy Torpedo!! You could have spent your entire day just sitting there, soaking in the ambience, and hoping to digest the chili dogs without embarrassing incidence. A must-do if you ever make it here to New York.

Once we reluctantly moved on from The Stardust, we made it over to Radio City Music Hall, to take the behind-the-scenes tour. What an incredible facility that iconic hall is, and what a preview we had of what to expect tonight. The hall is stunningly beautiful, and of course, the sound is beyond belief – I believe the Soweto Gospel Choir was just coming onstage, while we were in the viewing area adjacent to one of the audio visual booths. We’d better bring smelling salts for this one…

After the tour of Radio City, we made a preliminary trek down to the Macy’s I mentioned earlier, just to see it and take a few of the 117 pictures I shot yesterday (we’re just under 400 so far, at this stage of the trip). We only had a few minutes to look around, before we hauled ass back to our hotel, to grab another super-sized street vendor pretzel for supper, and get ready to see our second Broadway play.

Wait a minute! We also stopped along the way in Times Square to grab a Tim Horton’s coffee – a little taste of Canada, in the heart of Manhattan. A true delight, and I’m happy to report it was just as busy there as it is back home.

Funny enough, we had wanted to see one dramatic/comedic production, and one musical. The hope had been the award-winning “Billy Elliott”, or “Wicked”, but both had sold out before we were able to snag tickets. Our “consolation choice” was “Blithe Spirit”, a star-studded production of the Noel Coward comedy, and a comedy it was. Featuring Rupert Everett, Christine Ebersole, and the legendary Angela Lansbury, we howled along with the rest of the audience during this madcap romp. Lansbury, despite her age chewed up the stage in her riotous character of medium Madame Arcati – even performing several Jackie Gleason-style dance maneuvers throughout the show. What a delight (even if she ducked out a side door without greeting the audience outside the stage door). I know she’s forever linked with “Murder She Wrote”, but I’ll always remember her as Elvis’ mom in “Blue Hawaii”.

After the show, we walked across the alley to get a few treats at Junior’s – yet another Broadway eatery. We have vowed to eat somewhere different every day, but know that we will not see even a fraction of the restaurants to choose from.

It won’t be without trying…

Chow for now!

The “Gettin’ It Out Of Our System” Reloaded Tour 2009 – Day Three (and one-half) – New York City!!

Well, NYC is clearly out to kill us – we had hoped to make it over to Rockefeller Center this morning to catch The Today Show, which happens to feature the Toyota Outdoor Concert Series during the summer. Scheduled for today, rockers All-American Rejects, whom even a couple of old farts like us enjoy.

Alas, after a manic day of stuffing as much into our sock as possible, we awoke AFTER the show had finished. Technically, we rejected the All-American Rejects…

However, we did manage to fill our day nicely yesterday, all things considered:

1) We trekked down from our hotel to Rockefeller Center, and booked ourselves into the NBC Studio backstage tour. Pretty cool stuff – even though photography is prohibited during the tour. We got to stand in the NBC Nightly News studio, and view where MSNBC runs like a well-oiled…TV news station. No celebrities in sight.

2) We stopped in at the freakin’ Saturday Night Live studio, and got to sit in the bleachers used as general seating – whilst gazing at the mainstage, the music stage, and the stage most of the skits are staged. I’d have liked to have taken a picture there, but being tackled by an NBC page and ejected from the building wasn’t on my to-do list for that day. Still, to sit where Belushi, Akroyd, Farley, Farrell and so many more have filmed bits for my TV at home, was pretty darn cool.

No celebrities in sight…

3) We saw the make-up room, and a mock news studio, where a couple of the common tourists were able to do news and weather. If there had been animals, Mrs. That Dan Guy would have been in like Flynn – she’s done it before, and crushed a young child’s heart in the process. Don’t mess with MTDG and the chance to get up close with a critter…

No celebrities in sight. Technically, we would have been allowed to see Jimmy Fallon rehearsing for his show, but The Jonas Brothers were in for his show, so the building was sewn up tighter than a 12^th-Century virgin’s chastity belt.

4) Leaving NBC, we booked and took the Rockefeller Center tour, and went up to the Top Of The Rock to take photos of the city. Sadly, it was pretty overcast, so our photos were less than impressive. As it was, we barely took a little over 125 shots throughout the whole day!

5) Racing back to our hotel, we grabbed a pretzel for dinner, and got ready (hastily) for our first Broadway show – “God Of Carnage”, starring the stellar Marcia Gay Harden, the radiant Hope Davis, the suave Jeff Daniels, and…James Gandolfini!!

What a show! A blistering social study masking as a comedy, the play centres around the four lead actors, initially meeting civilly over an awkward moment regarding their children. Needless to say, the civility disintegrates shortly thereafter, and the humour is relentless from there to the conclusion. What a howl!

6) Our celebrity spotting was far more successful outside of the NBC studio – after the play we got to see each of the stars (and solicit signing of our playbill), PLUS watched Jane Krakowski (30 Rock) pick up what we presumed were her parents, AND comic/writer Bruce Vilanch (Hollywood Squares). I confess – we ogled. We are SUCH shameless tourists…

7) Finally, after the show we were lured into an off-Broadway comedy club, where we actually caught a comic that we had seen at the Calgary Comedy Festival, earlier this year. Too funny – both his set, and the coincidence.

So, in light of filling our day to the brim, something had to give, and it was The Today Show. Clearly, we will be back – this place is waaaaay more addictive than Vegas.

If only we weren’t trying to get all this OUT of our system…

Chow for now!

The “Gettin’ It Out Of Our System” Reloaded Tour 2009 – Day Two (and one-half) – New York City!!

Our first-ever trip to New York City got off to a pretty good start yesterday, once we made it through the laborious process that is getting in to see the Late Night With David Letterman show. Even having pre-arranged tickets before leaving Calgary, you can’t start to breathe easy until you’ve got actual tickets in your hot little hands. Seeing as how I will be writing an official column about that process, I can’t say much about it right now. Let’s just say, it would be easier to get elected Excelsior Of Pago Pago, which is something I have checked out online recently.

What I can say is that we were present for history being made, with guest Paul McCartney appearing on the show for the first time in his career. If you watched the show last night, he elaborated to Dave on why.

Hey, wait – I’m getting ahead of myself! Before the show, we stopped in at Hello Deli, owned by Letterman recurring character Rupert Jee. His business was the trivia question I answered correctly, to get our tickets. It just felt proper to reward him by taking up space in his deli, to split a roast beef sandwich. I even kept his hand-scribbled note, indicating we ordered the “Brian” sandwich (although he should maybe have been a prescribing physician – it looks more he wrote “Pmai”).

After lunch, we’ll skip ahead again, to where we finally got the tickets in our hands, and were waiting to get into the Ed Sullivan Theatre. Just above us, on top of the Late Night marquee, Sir Paul was doing a sound check for a mini-concert he was doing as part of the show. “Get Back” – Holy “Let It Be”, Batman!!! Shiver me timbers…

Among our wanderings between getting the tickets, and getting in line, we wandered towards Radio City Music Hall, and ran smack-dab into Regis Philbin, crossing the street towards us, although it is unclear whether or not he even knew we were there. I think when he told me “no pictures please”, he had noticed us.

In the theatre, we ended up in the second row, off to the side. We were about 5’ from announcer Alan Kalter – 20’ from the man himself whilst sitting at his desk, with Sir Paul. We had a clear view of The CBS Orchestra, and hammy cohort Paul Shaffer. The whole thing just made your head swim. Even more surreal when action star Bruce Willis strolled out to do the Top Ten list. Fine sense of humour, Mr.Willis. He also turned up for the concert afterwards.

Oh yeah, the concert – McCartney did a half dozen songs, even though only two were broadcast as part of the show. Great blend of Wings, solo and Beatles stuff – just got our appetities whetted for the full concert next week.

But, I ramble – and we’ve got to a city to see. Tonight, our first-ever Broadway show, actually performed ON Broadway. Yee-Haw!!

Chow for now!

The “Gettin’ It Out Of Our System” Reloaded Tour 2009 – Day One (and one-half) – New York City!!

Whoa! Sensory Overload!! Despite what you’ve seen on TV or in the movies, if you’ve never been to NYC before (like Mrs. That Dan Guy and I), this city will absolutely blow you away. We arrived late afternoon yesterday, and after checking in and grabbing a bite at the French restaurant attached to our hotel, we hit Times Square. It hit us back, with explosions of sight, sound, and smell. Some smells less pleasant than others I’ll admit, but overall – fascinating and exhilarating. We’re actually staying right in Times Square, right around the corner from Broadway, which we also explored last night. I bought a 16G memory card for our camera, and could have filled it to capacity in an hour. We are SUCH hopeless tourists…

Along with all the theatres and city sites, we checked out all the little restaurants, cafes, eateries, patisseries, holes-in-the-walls, nooks and crannies, to try out after some of the shows we’ve come to see. Somehow, we’ve managed to not only pre-book a number of different New York essentials, but now that we’ve been here a whole 15 hours or so, we have now OVERBOOKED ourselves – we’re booked solid!! At the top of that list – WE’RE SEEING PAUL FREAKIN’ MCCARTNEY!!!!! TWICE!!!!!

We found out that McCartney is doing three concerts here, and we were able to pick up tix for next week’s show, in Flushing. I know, the name sounds a bit funny, but I’ve been writing all year about how much I’ve wanted to see him live, and now, we are mere days away.

Actually, much like any other average day, I stand corrected. We are mere hours away from seeing him in person. Mrs. That Dan Guy had tried to get us tickets for Late Night With David Letterman, and while we were in Las Vegas a few days ago – we got the call – WE GOT TICKETS!!! HOW MANY MORE CAPS CAN I FIT INTO THIS POST???

Letterman’s only guest tonite? PAUL FREAKIN’ MCCARTNEY!! In the Ed Sullivan Theater, where The Beatles exploded into America, on the Ed Sullivan Show. Even my goose bumps have goose bumps. This is going to be, as the kids say, off the hook…watch the show tonight, and look for the ear-to-ear grins in the audience, with security standing closely by...

So, to summarize, we are here on our “Gettin’ It Out Of Our System” tour, but I fear that we have done anything but, now that we have made our first-ever visit to New York. More like “Won’t Be Able To Get It Out Of Our System”…

And, to make us feel right at home, the toilet here in our hotel room runs – just like the ones that taunt me back in our home in Calgary.

It is a warm and fuzzy feeling…

Chow for now!

“Start spreadin’ da nooze…

We’re leavin’ today…”

After a brief recess back here in Calgary, The “Gettin’ It Out Of Our System” Tour 2009 resumes this morning! Any guesses where we’re off to?

Hint: It’s our first time ever! As Billy Joel once said - it's a state of mind...

Chow for now!!

I suppose I should learn to read instructions a bit better. If you hit that link to Ticketmaster yesterday (which was premature, by the way – perhaps YOU should learn to read instructions a bit better as well…) it led to nowhere, and may continue to do so. I foolishly added a link to this here blog-site in my submission, which is a no-no as per the rules. I am a dunderhead.

Oh well, I can always try posting a different concert review – there’s certainly enough of them here at any given time…

Whoops! I also forgot about Charlie again – he is gonna be one ornery bird, when he gets back in front of the computer.

At least our gopher seems to be behaving while we were away – our lawn is still in pretty decent shape. And that reminds me - I had better call Bill Murray, and see if he is still handling pest control problems…

Chow for now!

The Sunday Morning “Nobody-Asked-Me-To, But-Here-I-Go-Anyway” Concert Review: George Strait

Well, I stand corrected. This time, somebody did ask me – you can check out this review online as well at: http://www.ticketmaster.ca/reviews/, about 72 hours after today's posting. Go figure!

Last night, we caught country superstar George Strait in concert here in Calgary – even though we had to shrug off only two hours of sleep after taking what was essentially an early morning red-eye in from Las Vegas, just to be back on time to attend this show – part of the 2009 Calgary Stampede concert line-up I might add. Yee-Haw, pardners!

For the uninitiated, George Strait has enjoyed a stellar career spanning over a number of decades – from which he has amassed over 50 Number One hits. How do you plan a 90-minute show with so many hit singles, plus all the other songs that have been popular, but didn’t climb all the way to the top of the charts? Well, you either perform medleys, like so many other artists do, or you just select a balance of your early years, the middle years, and your newest hits, like Mr. Strait chose to do last night. Diplomatic, and reflective of his staying power – there wasn’t a dull moment in The Saddledome, even when he performed a brand–new song.

My wife and I have been fans since the early 90’s – back to singles like “Does Fort Worth Ever Cross Your Mind”, and “All My Exes Live In Texas”. Sound like there might be a theme there? Yep, George Strait wears his heart on his sleeve when it comes to Texas, with many of his songs reflecting his home state – one song in particular even admitting unabashedly that he wouldn’t be where he is today, if it hadn’t been for Texas. He’s a one-man musical convention and visitor’s bureau. With a bit more popularity…

What I’ve always loved about George Strait is that so many of his songs tell a story, which endears them to his fans, and has afforded him the rarity of a long career in the music industry. It’s been a long wait to finally see him live, but the wait was worth it – he really is The King Of Country.

Opening act Gord Bamford was just the icing on the cake – with an album out right now stacked with hits (plus his timely and appropriate theme song for The Calgary Stampede “This Old Hat”), he put on a high-energy set to get the crowd warmed up for Mr. Strait – I’m a fan, and it was great to catch him on the same dance card.

All in all, some fine times in Cowtown for country fans last night…

Don’t forget, check back later for this at: http://www.ticketmaster.ca/reviews/ - if I'm lucky enough to have it posted there.

Chow for now!

The “Gettin’ It Out Of Our System” Tour 2009 – Day Five (and one-half) – (Leaving Las Vegas)

Programming note: Charlie has been bumped to Sunday morning. God help us all…for now:

The Saturday Morning “Nobody-Asked-Me-To, But-Here-I-Go-Anyway” concert review: Jack Jones

There aren’t many left, and the ones we’ve seen have been amazing – seeing legendary crooner Jack Jones last night was no exception.

So, the reason we ended up back here in this city was the chance to see one of the few remaining song stylists of a generation that still has an effect on today’s music – for stars like Michael Buble, and any one of the Sixties-styled singers cropping up – like Adele, Duffy, and anyone else that can only come up with a single name. A contemporary of singers like Tony Bennett and Robert Goulet (who we were both fortunate enough to see in concert as well), Jack Jones has lost NONE of his pipes – he hit notes last night I don’t think even Mariah Carey can find any more. Smooth as silk, and professional as they come.

Of course, if you’re still scratching your head trying to figure out who he is, he is forever immortalized from his cameo in the hit film series “Airplane”, crooning the theme to the “Love Boat” TV show, which he made famous. Hey, that makes two “Love Boat” celebrities that we’ve seen now – we also caught Bernie Kopell in a dinner theatre production back home. I wonder when we’ll catch Gopher, or Mary Ann?

Wait, wasn’t Mary Ann from “Gilligan’s Island”? I clearly need more sleep before I do this stuff…

He’s also a regular performer for the annual Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon, which for the record, is held at the South Point Hotel & Casino, which was where we caught this show.

The show? Oh yeah – almost 2 hours of smooth traipsing down Memory Lane, hearing classics from popular music, Broadway, and jazz. Star quality, man. Star quality.

Better run. We’ve come to the end of the line, and we have a gruesomely early flight to catch back home.

Chow for now!

The “Gettin’ It Out Of Our System” Tour 2009 – Day Four (and one-half) – Las Vegas

Ugh…down to the last night, before we fly back (briefly) to Calgary, to recharge before the next leg of our “Gettin’ It Out Of Our System” Tour 2009. We’re earning our flyer miles, let me tell you…

Hey, last night was the Vegas version of a Broadway sensation – we caught “The Lion King”. What a production! Seeing a show here where the theatre has been set up to accommodate a permanent run allows for more elaborate special effects, which this show abunds with. Is abunds a word? I want to say abounds, but that doesn’t seem to do the thing justice. This show explodes with visual delights – right from the stunning opening number, which pretty much rattles your larynx – for lack of a better analogy. Frankly, it rattles your eyeballs, but larynx sounded more scientific.

There’s no doubt that this is a family show, which may explain why it lagged in a number of spots for me. The hyenas got old really fast, but I imagine they were a big part of the story from the original Disney movie, so they had to have been a shoo-in for the musical theatre version. Hey Disney – here’s a tip for the next time around – vampires, or sorcerers…

All in all though, time well spent – the puppetry and masks are incredible in transforming the actors into their characters. The music has been ingrained in our minds beforehand – and the Vegas references made it a little more fun for Mom & Dad – or it was at least intended to, if Mom & Dad hadn’t slipped out after the curtain raised to go shoot craps.

So, this trip has been about seeing things we haven’t seen here before. As many times as we’ve been to this burg, we still haven’t seen a few of the popular casino hotels. So, we trudged in the 110° heat to see the Rio (where the World Series Of Poker was going on – not that we could find it anywhere), and the Palms – home of the only Playboy club (not that Mrs. That Dan Guy let me find it anywhere…)

We also discovered a new indoor connector form Mandalay Bay, all the way to The Excalibur. How James Bond is that?

Tonight, another show, and another new hotel to finally discover. We are a-tingle!

Chow for now!

The “Gettin’ It Out Of Our System” Tour 2009 – Day Three (and one-half) – Las Vegas

Post #1234!! Whoa!

The Thursday Morning “Nobody-Asked-Me-To, But-Here-I-Go-Anyway” concert review: Howie Mandel

The first of our three shows here in Das Vegas was a fellow (if not former) Canuck – the host of “Howie Do It”, and “Deal Or No Deal” – although one audience member last night was under the impression that he was ANOTHER Canadian – Monty Hall of “Let’s Make A Deal”. A distinction Mr. Mandel turned to great comic material. That was the best part of the show, as Howie improvised off of the chatter from the audience – an audience I believe may have been under the impression they were still on their sofa back home, yapping at the TV. Howie never really ran out of banter material.

If you are a fan of his clean-cut TV stuff, bear in mind – he’s a stand-up comic, and as such, there are no boundaries for a live show. Well, he never plugged anyone with a round from a six-gun, but he did (as did opener John Mendoza) utilize quite a bit of salty language – if indeed anyone other than retired pirates would still describer swearing as “salty”. To use a bit myself – he was frickin’ hilarious!!

He was on top of his game last night, using the same sort of observational material that Jerry Seinfeld wielded so well when we saw him not too long ago – but the interaction with the audience is what made this show extra-special, like finding an old M & M under the bed that’s still pretty fresh when you bite into it. Mmm-mm-good!

What we probably won’t forget anytime soon was his opening video – a throwback to an old late-nite talk show, o r maybe even the Lawrence Welk Show – an older gentleman singing a very repetitive song, repeatedly. You have to see it to believe it.

Howie, you do Canada proud!

Tonight, a Vegas version of a Broadway smash – stay tuned!

Chow for now!

The “Gettin’ It Out Of Our System” Tour 2009 – Day Two (and one-half) – Las Vegas

Still beastly hot – I heard that it hit 111° - which frankly would have been pretty cool. Someone said that it was like “walking around in a blow dryer”, and I’d be hard pressed to argue that point. When I do my daily freckle inspection in the morning, I swear they have melted off…

We had planned on seeing a show last night, but opted to skulk around in the air-conditioned buildings here, rather than swelter with the rest of the unwashed swelts. Turned out to be a good idea – Lady Luck was obviously tagging along, and the entire day essentially cost us nothing. Ask Mrs. That Dan Guy – nothing makes me a happier camper. Well, I suppose other things do as well, but that scenario surely ranks right up there.

So we now have shows to attend the next three nights, and it will be a mixed bag – comedy, concert, and musical theatre. Yet Carrot Top remains elusive, as his show was “dark” last night. There’s always next time, considering our being on a “Gettin’ It Out Of Our System” tour is pretty much the same thing as hearing that proclamation from Cher.

Today, we explore a few places we have never been to before. At least that’s the game plan, subject to change as it always is here.

(Note to self: Consider finger liposuction, to better work way around this netbook keyboard. Must price that out in our travels…)

Hey, thanks to Sistah Eldest, who pointed out that today is 07 08 09, for someone in her family that seems surrounded by interesting numbers. Still not sure what that is all about, but I can’t wear my aluminum foil hat here – way too hot.

Chow for now!

The “Getting’ It Out Of Our System” Tour 2009 – Day One – Las Vegas

Well, even though you could get the mistaken impression that we are in New York right now – that is in fact a shot of the New York New York Hotel & Casino, where we used to stay for years when we came here to Vegas. We’re not staying there this time either, but it sure is picturesque…

Beastly hot – over 100° - the sidewalks are actually soft…

Hey, someone we saw here a few years back with some fellow family (good morning, g’s) got into a bit of trouble recently: http://www.vegasdeluxe.com/blogs/luxe-life/2009/jul/05/steve-wyricks-death-drop-stunt-strip-goes-flames/ Not sure if that link will work, but worth a view :-)

Hey, this is the start of Day Two - we got in late yesterday afternoon! This could get confusing…my apologies.

Wow – the keyboard on this dinky netbook computer is small – I’ve massaged larger dimes. And with my big gorilla hands, the postings may be shorter than normal.

OK, there’s no need to be THAT happy about what I just said!

Better run – we got a day to plan!

Chow for now!

Well, not much of a post this morning I suppose. We’re at a hotel close to the airport, as we have an early flight out of Dodge shortly. Thus begins the “Gettin’ It Out Of Our System” tour – which will eventually see us extend our earlier stop on the extreme west coast of North America, all the way through to the east. We are agog with excitement. You should try that sometime.

This will also be my first extended run posting from the road on this little netbook, which aside from having a keyboard the size of a matchbook, is at least not the Crapmaster 2000. That alone makes me a happy camper.

Watched a poker broadcast from the Southpoint Hotel & Casino on our hotel room TV, with Canadian actress Jennifer Tilly – who happened to have $111,500 in chips at that point –hmmm - interesting - just sayin’….

Better boogie –

Chow for now

BREAKING NEWS!!!

Mowed the lawn yesterday evening.

OK, so maybe that’s not exactly worthy of a full-cap headline with exclamation marks, but I did perform that task in between rainstorms when I did it. And, a couple of times, it started to drizzle before I was done. That has to count for something, right?

Sheesh – tough room!

Well, that blasted gopher is really starting to make a mess of our lawn. Where he has burrowed under the stairs, the lawn is fairly well chewed up, and there are deep gaps between the ground and the concrete stairs. I hope he has a check-book, because before we bring in the gasser to send him off to Happy Burrowing Grounds, we expect to collect a little bit of rent.

The um…professional problem solver we consulted Friday though suggested we may have to wait until fall – so that he will be more likely to take the um…bait.

Frankly, I can’t help but think of that old carnival game, involving a big mallet – the next time he pokes his head out…

Chow for now!

Chicken Scratch

Hee Hee Hee…

Howdy humans! Ole Charlie here, foregoin’ the usual photo op of misself, to enjoy a bit of karmic irony. Seems like the ole Such Is Life household has taken on a tenant recently – of the rodent variety!!

BUK-AAAAWK!!!!

Yessir, ole Banjo Boy & the missus came home the other night, and noticed a furry little head stickin’ outta underneath the front stairs to the home. Once the little head decided to pop further out, a groundhog was attached to it! Holy pluck!!

BUK-AAAAWK!!!!

What’s funny is, these guys have MERCILESSLY ribbed some fellow family members about a certain squirrel in the attic for years now. I expect they’re quakin’ their pinfeathers over the repercussions of this new development. By the Great Rooster, if there’s any honour in the world – the family members will respect theez tryin’ times here at the homestead.

Hee Hee Hee…mebbe I will get me a copy of “Caddyshack” on the ole Betamax tonite…

BUK-AAAAWK!!!!

Cluck for now!

Oh brother…

Well, we won’t ever be accused of being “too smart for the room”…

Yesterday afternoon, we picked up a new cell phone for Mrs. That Dan Guy, so that we can text each other once we depart on the “Getting It Out Of Our System” tour in a few days. More on that soon. Today’s post will focus on how aged people should not be allowed to handle new technologies – or at least us people, perhaps.

So, the phone is pretty slick, and all we really needed it to do was text back and forth, something even a three-year-old can figure out how to do these days. However, when I tested texting her from my Blackberry, all she received were dotted lines – no readable text whatsoever. Rather than try to change settings, we just kept sending test messages back and forth, hoping it would resolve itself. What’s that old definition of insanity? Continue doing the same thing, expecting different results?

Well, after a couple of fruitless hours hoping this different result might appear, we went back to the mall where we bought the damn thing. And consequently puzzled the staff there – who had never seen anything like it before. They could all text her just fine – my phone (the one that mattered) could not. It was like mine sent out morse code, without the dots. I like using those dashes when I write, but this was downright ridiculous.

So, we had to rush off to meet friends for dinner, which we did. After bringing up this subject with them, they tried texting her – and those all went swimmingly. Mine, still not so much. One suggested maybe it was a language setting, which I checked out, and discovered that there was indeed some foreign language set as my default – changing it to English resulted in a successful message sent and received.

Text messaging, made simple – in under six hours, and with only 6 people helping to resolve the problem.

Next up, I explore quantum physics – that shouldn’t be as hard for us to master.

Chow for now!

Duped!

Deceived!

Misled!

Bamboozled!

Led down the garden path!!

(It looked like it was going to rain last night, and yet it never did. I hate when that happens…)

Chow for now!

Happy Canada Day, fellow Canadians! May the maple syrup flow freely in the streets…

Hey, why didn’t I plan ahead and have one of those “Fun Facts About Canada” postings for TODAY? Man, I’m such a dope.

Oh well, that’s gonna have to be water under the fridge, like forgetting about Charlie’s posting this past Saturday. I’m pretty sure he’s going to have his beak in a knot when he gets online THIS weekend… Oy…

For Canada Day, it appears to be a sunny, warm day, with only a 30% chance of precipitation. That still leaves a 75% chance for snow. Sadly, Mrs. That Dan Guy and I will not be out marching with fellow ice skaters today – we are preparing for the delivery of my new office furniture tomorrow morning. Nothing elaborate, just something other than the el cheap-o crap I’ve over-utilized the past few years – now I will have a drawer or two to hide paperwork in.

I am a-tingle with anticipation…

Chow for now!!

Fare thee well, June – don’t let the door hit you in the caboose on your way out…

So, after due consideration regarding our recent excursion, I am coming to the conclusion that my odd (and frequent) encounters with repetitive and/or consecutive numbers must be related to my writing. Or, I’m really just making a mountain out of a coincidental molehill, but for the purpose of having something to write about this morning – let’s go with the former.

Here are just a few examples of these dang numbers apearing, throughout our trip:

1) Arriving from LAX to Oxnard, we touched down on Runway E11.

2) Taxiing in to the terminal, we arrived at EXACTLY (and I’m not making this up) 1:11 PM.

3) Having left our luggage back in L.A., we filled out a claim ticket. Number 333.

4) The hospitality suite for our weekend retreat was Room Number 1112. The first room you walked into getting off the elevator each evening was #1111.

5) Returning to Canada, we filled out a Customs Declaration Form, and the customs officer marked it “A-11”.

6) We entered Canada through Lane #11.

OK, there were more, but those were just a few that I took time to record. I swear, I don’t believe that a white light is glowing in the recesses of my closet, but I am continually confounded by the appearance of so many coincidental numbers in my everyday life.

Now, if I could only win an $1111 million dollar lottery…

Chow for now!!

Home Sweet Home…

We returned late last night from my recent conference, and this is the first chance I’ve had to fire up the Turdmaster 2000. Sadly, I may owe it an apology…

On our trip, the Vista operating system on the Turdmaster seemed to work much more efficiently. For some reason, outside the home it actually remembers what it is supposed to dowhen you try and perform simple little operations - such as turning it on, or opening a file.

However, back here at home, it reverts back to the frustrating, Forest Gump-like (but without Forest’s charm) operation, forgetting what to do at every step of the way. Turn on? Duh…okey-dokey…but this is gonna take awhile! Save settings? O-boy…how does that work again?

It is really a matter of something interfering, or giving off interference in our home, I suspect. Not that it works all THAT much better when we’re away, but at least the dang thing seems to start in under half an hour, and doesn’t open media files when you try and start a Word document. I still have to check that the spelling software catches stuff like “kat”, or “bagle”. I’ll leave you to try and decide what I was trying to spell with that last one, but it sure as shooting wasn’t “bagle”…

Hey, while I was away, I discovered completely by accident that cute little colloquialisms we use here in Canada aren’t universal. Like when you’ve done something for the very first time, and you say, “well it was my first kick at the cat”… Isn’t that a universal phrase? Apparently not, judging by the horrified looks I got from fellow attendees.

Sheesh…

Chow for now!

Ventura California, Day Four

Well, another year, another conference wrapping up. We have a business meeting this morning, then about an hour left open to try and catch a snack at Top Hat, something of an iconic hot dog stand here in historic downtown Ventura. Yesterday, a small group of us snuck off mid-afternoon to In ‘N’ Out, a California burger joint I would describe as similar to McDonald’s, but with some flair. If that doesn’t sell you on it, don’t miss it if you’re in this state – the food is terrific!

I had hoped to take some streaming video of Ventura Highway, made famous decades ago in the song of the same name by America. Despite the easy-listening sounds of that song, Ventura Highway is literally a steady stream of cars blazing by – one of those oxymoron-type things, or at the very least just not consistent with what you may have pictured over the years. I really expected to see a horse with no name sauntering down cobblestone – but it's more like a succession of space rockets hurtling towards Mars.

We’ve had a blast. Great to see old friends, and meet new ones. Oh yeah, and for the purposes of writing this shindig off, I learned a lot about my craft. Not just surfing...

True dat!

Chow for now!!

Ventura California, Day Three

For the love of Pete.

Yesterday, the first full day of the conference I’m out here attending, we had a stellar line-up of high-wattage speakers. And I chose to post a picture of a surfing dog. Well, no one’s ever accused me of having the most acute decision-making skills when it comes to this sort of thing. But gosh-darn it, he was just so darn cute…

What a day of speakers and panellists yesterday! We had industry leaders talk about the changes in the newspaper industry, we got tips and tricks to stay relevant in the ever-changing newspaper landscape, and we heard from three completely different superstars – and if all that weren’t enough to knock your socks off, Mrs. That Dan Guy and I shared our dinner table with Heloise, the impossibly charming and popular writer of the syndicated “Hints From Heloise” columns. If I could have had a peanut butter sandwich along with all that, I would have had to pinch myself to see if I was dreaming!

The first keynote speaker of the day was Steve Lopez, whose name may be familiar if you’ve already seen the movie based on his bestselling book (inspired by columns he wrote) “The Soloist”. We’ve seen the movie, just starting the book now. All the extra background details were simply amazing – what an experience that random act of creative investigative journalism has been for him.

Later, humorist W. Bruce Cameron of the two “8 Simple Rules” books, and “How To Remodel A Man’ talked about adapting work (and the inherent risks involved) for TV & film. He was gracious enough to spend some time with me after his presentation for an interview, which will be an upcoming column, and (once I edit my stammering out) an audio feature. One funny dude…which seems like appropriate lingo here by the ocean, man…

Finally, Jeffrey Zaslow, closed the day out with the details of how he came to co-author “The Last Lecture” with Professor Randy Pausch, which along with his original column and the broadcast of said lecture have become a world-wide success. Pretty inspiring stuff for a guy who still cheers whenever he doesn’t burn his toast in the morning.

And, there’s more all day today.

Chow. For now…

Ventura California, Day Two

One of the cool things we discovered before arriving here was that Ventura is the place where author Erle Stanley Gardner began writing his famous Perry Mason series. Not that anyone seems to remember that, but there are a few sites that document his days here – such as the Erle Stanley Gardner Building, where we took this photo. The actual offices are now occupied by other companies, so we couldn’t go in. However, I can say that I took the very same elevator that Mr. Gardner used to take every day, as he launched one of the most successful writing careers ever.

The elevator would seem to be the only thing we have in common…

Technically, we “did” Ventura yesterday, before the registration for my conference in the afternoon. We hoofed it through historic Downtown Ventura, and had lunch in a fun little diner called Busy Bee Café. I ordered a foot-long hot dog that not only lived up to its name, it had five toes to seemingly impress that point upon me. There was something quite intimidating about the beast.

Later in the afternoon, we started to run into fellow attendees, and I had to attend a pre-conference board meeting before grabbing a quick snack, and meeting the gang in the lobby of our hotel, to grab a shuttle over to a historic mission for our first reception. All of this while struggling to come to terms with losing not only Farrah, but Michael Jackson as well. What kind of day goes like that??

We wrapped up the night at a local waterfront restaurant, with a couple of friends, and varied seafood selections. Most batter-free – sorry Captain Highliner…

Chow for now!

Ventura California, Day One

“California dreamin’, on a sunny summer day…”

Alright, so I don’t exactly have “lyric recall” as an arrow in my writing arsenal – so sue me! My point is, walking along our promenade that runs along the ocean here in Ventura, you just automatically think of all those song lyrics that encapsulate the sun, the sand, and the surf. Not to mention the turf, which has always been a delightful combination with said surf for dinner, at “market prices”. Pass me the butter…

The video clip above just shows the rolling surf outside our hotel room. Later in the day, as the surf was cresting much higher, the water was filled with surfers. Even a one-legged surfer, which we immediately wondered if the fella had been the unfortunate recipient of a shark visit. Do they have sharks here? So much for my skinny-dipping plans!

We’re here for the next few days for a writer’s conference, my annual NSNC gathering ( www.columnists.com ), and although much of the time here will be spent in sessions, I hope to share a few sites along the way as well. It’s a lovely little place.

Today, we explore…

Chow for now!

Fleetwood Mac Concert Calgary

The Wednesday Morning “Nobody-Asked-Me-To, But-Here-I-Go-Anyway” Concert Review: (of the postponed earlier appearance of) Fleetwood Mac.

(or, Why I Will Never Be A Professional Concert Reviewer…)

After postponing their last concert here in Calgary due to an illness in the band, Fleetwood Mac finally rolled through town last night, just before our previously scheduled trip to California this morning. Which is why I’m typing this post out at just around 4 AM, and an even blearier-eyed Mrs. That Dan Guy is trying to wash a few hours sleep off with a cold face cloth.

But hey, there was a concert for me to sort-of review here, so on with the show!

Well, I will confess to this show last night being something that we were both looking forward to. This was the first chance we’ve ever had to see Fleetwood Mac live in concert, let alone with MUCH of the line-up or band-mates that has cranked out hits since the early 1970’s. Which, happily, was pretty much the point of this whole tour. Hits, hits, and more hits.

And yet, for some odd reason, I have to say we were both underwhelmed initially. Even some pretty big hits just didn’t seem to generate much of anything – I don’t know why. Maybe it was the sound quality where we were seated, just under the echo chamber. Maybe it was a bit of vocal…uh…imperfection? It wasn’t until late into the first half of the show that the gang seemed to catch fire for us, with some smokin’ acoustic versions of their catalogue, notably an INSANE solo version of “Big Love” – Egads man, that Lindsey Buckingham is one under-rated guitar slinger – he absolutely kicks ass on the thing.

And of course, finally seeing the delightful Stevie Nicks prowl a stage was some fun. As I say, once they caught fire, the show rolled right along. Their catalogue is beyond comprehension, and they trotted out a few tunes that were a nice surprise, along with every major hit they’ve enjoyed. We snuck out during the second encore, mega-hit “Don’t Stop” – almost an accusation of our early departure. But hey, we’ve got a plane to catch, and only a few hours sleep – so we had to beg out early.

Great show in the end, oddly lacking spark early on.

Chow for now!