northern

Okay, it's been a couple weeks since I wrote.

Sorry about that!

Last Thursday I went to Toronto for the SG burlesque show.

Overall I had a good time.

I ran into a bunch of people I know, or sort-of know, and it was great to finally say a bit more than 'hi' to some people I've met before.

An advantage of looking the way I do, and using a picture in my profile that actually looks like me, is that people recognize me. I may not recognize them of course. But at least when they see me they come up and introduce themselves.

I went by myself, but within seconds of joining the line outside the club, a few people who I've said hi to in the past joined the line behind me. I'm always certain that when people are in a situation like that with me, they must think to themselves, 'oh great, I have to stand next to this guy'. Yeah, it's probably mostly my paranoia and low self-esteem.

But I made the best of it, and like I said, actually finally said more than hello.

Once I got in the club, I got a beer and stood for a moment drinking it. I say a moment, because very quickly, people found me and so I had a couple conversations.

First I heard someone shout "Northern!" a couple times, and for a brief moment I was sure I was hallucinating. It was 0rigin. Nice guy, and he would introduce me to a bunch of other guys over the course of the night.

Adair convinced me to stand near the front of the stage. And shortly, the opening band started their set.

It was loud but pretty good.

By the time I finished my beer, the place had gotten pretty full.

I moved back a bit to put down my beer bottle, and decided to stay there, but still pretty close to the stage.

The burlesque show was pretty good. It would have been nice if they had introduced the girls at the beginning of the show, rather than the end of it, since I might have been better able to remember their names that way. The only two girls I knew before the show were Reagan and Nixon. And oddly enough, it's only as I type this that I realize they're both named after US Presidents. I feel so lame. I had noted that about them the first time I heard of either of them, but I never connected them. Yikes - braindead there for a moment.

The first thing that struck me as the girls came out on stage was that Reagan's smile and eyes really are as amazing as they look in pictures.

I thought the sets were fun and the energy level high.

However, maybe it was because I was close to the stage, but I hate when performers insist that people cheer even more loudly than they already are. The whole "I can't hear you" thing is just a bit much, and the screech-factor was incredible. Some people later complained about how loud the music was. I didn't have a problem with the music, but the screeching was approaching the levels of pre-teen girls at a boy band concert. (Okay, honestly, I've never been to a boy band concert, so I'm just guessing).

I am very thankful that I moved back a few feet since there were several times when people standing where I had originally been were sprayed with beer, water and saliva. And that's just not my idea of fun.

I should point out that while you may be tempted to blame my minor complaints on my advanced age, I can assure you that I was just as much of a spoil-sport in my teens and twenties.

Before the show started, Nixon asked that local SG's go backstage. Apparently, even though there were a bunch there, only two actually did. I enjoyed the clean-up efforts of Malice and Lotus between sets. I had warned Malice that they would be asking local SG's to go on stage since I had read that in someone's journal. The funny thing is that I've exchanged a whole bunch of comments with Lotus over the months, but until the end of the show when they introduced her, I hadn't realized who she was up on stage.

The burlesque show lasted only about an hour (I actually checked my watch, though several days have passed and I've forgotten the exact time). But I guess for the 22 or so bucks it cost for my ticket (including the Ticketmaster 'convenience charge'), I shouldn't really complain.

After the show, some of the girls gathered at the merchandise table and were signing autographs. Malice gave me a bit of a push to go up and say hi to Lotus. I bought the SG book - a small, glossy, coffee table-type book with a collection of SG pics. I got Lotus to sign it, which she felt a bit odd doing since she knew me. She introduced me to Nixon, who also autographed the book. I was also able to get Reagan to sign it, which got me close up to her, and seriously, those eyes and that smile are just killer.

For whatever stupid reason, I didn't ask Malice to sign it, even though she had been on stage too. But she hadn't been signing autographs for people, so that would have been really weird.

I'm kicking myself for not getting the newest DVD, since they were selling it for just $20, and of course, no shipping charges unlike when I eventually order it online.

I gave Adair and her boyfriend John a ride home. And just to reiterate to them, it wasn't a problem for me at all to make the drive. Besides it was nice to talk to her for more than a minute.





In other news, my mom is leaving this Thursday for North Carolina, to visit my sister and her family for a week and a bit. She'll be arriving back here a couple hours after Halloween is over, which means that we won't be giving out candy this year. I usually go over to her place to give out candy, since she won't do it by herself. Of course, there are only a handful of kids in our neighbourhood, so we literally only get about half a dozen kids at the door. That doesn't stop us from buying enough candy for a small army of children though. And damn it, even if I'm not giving out candy this time, I'm still going to buy a ton of it.





Happy Birthday to Jersey!

Go wish her a happy birthday and tell her I sent you.