Joel, Free Beer, and First Class Sweetness

This past weekend has been, by far, one of the best weekends evaaaaar! And if you know me, or read my blog regularly, appears to have been a rarity lately. After working like a dog for the past few weeks, being stressed out at home and at work, things finally look to be moving up on the karma scale.

I had been waiting weeks to see the ever so wonderful Joel Plaskett Emergency perform at the Opera House. I remember when the announcement for his concert was made; I rushed down to the Horseshoe to get tickets fearing that somehow they would all be sold out in a few days only to find I was the first person, at least at that place, to get tickets. Well! Can you blame me for thinking that? Joel Plaskett has to be one of the best Canadian singer songwriters ever. For a country that turns out so many talented musicians, he is certainly one of our greatest gems who despite his seemingly shy exterior, writes songs that personify Canadian culture, and on stage is truly a performer who clearly displays his love for music and evokes the same passion in the audience. This was my third time seeing him live, although this time around was a little different because I actually got to meet him!

My friends and I planned on going to the Real Jerk for dinner and walking in we saw Peter Elkas (the freaking sexiest man alive) eating, and I immediately started to get giddy. As we were ordering Joel came in and my heart literally stopped. You would think that at 24 you would sort of grow out of this star struck behaviour but I guess I still haven’t! I’m not crazy I swear (which probably could be debated if you read my Joel Plaskett experience at the Si Vous Play concert back in October :S ) , but for someone who lives and breathes music, I’m always in awe when I see or meet musicians who I highly respect. When we left the restaurant, he was behind us and so I turned around and began to speak to him. He’s an incredibly friendly and down to earth person, however, my only regret was telling him that he had food stuck in his teeth. Okay, okay! Looking back, it really was a Patricia thing to do and say but really, someone was going to tell him eventually right?


The concert was amazing. With his loyal following of fans in the audience everyone sang their hearts out while Joel sang, danced and wailed his guitar all over the stage. I got to concerts quite frequently, but rarely have I ever been to one where the crowd sings louder than the band.

Still recovering from the excitement of Saturday, I spent my Sunday volunteering with Doors Open Toronto at Steamwhistle brewery. It has to be the sweetest volunteer gig I’ve done for Doors Open. In my 4 years volunteering with the event, I’ve given tours and presentations, greeted visitors but never have I sat at table all day drinking free beer and eating popcorn. It was pretty casual and I spent my time chatting with the other volunteer, wandering around the site, and speaking with visitors about the event. At the end of the event I managed to fit in a brewery tour and drink some more Pilsner.

And today marks the absolute peak of my travels—I got to taste the luxuries that are offered to those flying in freaking first class! That’s right, my first upgrade to executive first class, and baby I don’t think I can ever go back to Economy! We’re talking about the world of FIFO, drinks and meals served in actual tableware, enough legroom to fit two people and the magical area of the plan where both earphones actually work. Actually, the newer Air Canada planes are pretty good, but I can understand why people recommend just paying the upgrade to first class when doing extremely long flights.

Things are good, and when I take a break from travelling in June I get to start looking for my condo which I’m also really excited about.