according.to.kim

AC/DC concert photos

Highlights interrupted by...

Feist. (With special guest Hayden.)

With just a few hours notice, I was given the opportunity to see Feist with my sister-in-law this evening. Great show! Her voice is awesome. I loved the background "shadow show" too. Very cool.

Truth be told, I didn't even know her music before tonight.* (Ali, Neil was confused! and thank you!) Yeah, I don't get out much. Or listen to the right radio stations. Anyway, I'm sold. Feist rocks!

*Okay, now I know I've heard 1234 on iPod Nano commercials, but I had no idea what song it was or who sang it.

Bits & pieces

My friend's book, Dry Streak, has been shortlisted for the Saskatchewan Book Awards. Congratulations, Leeann!

I had a wonderful time scrapbooking and cardmaking with friends Friday evening and all day Saturday. I'm very happy with my accomplishments this weekend. Photos are important to me and I need dedicated time like this to work on organizing and preserving them. I made this "Georgia" page at a Stampin' Up! event last weekend (i.e., it was designed by someone else) and then simply added the photo yesterday.

'Tis the season to receive stuff in the mail (such as greeting cards, calendars, labels...) that make me feel guilty and/or annoyed. I won't use things I didn't pay for, and yet I feel bad about tossing them into the recycling bin.

I've added a link to The Breast Cancer Site in the right column. If you have a few seconds to spare, you can help provide free mammograms for underprivileged women by clicking the "Fund Free Mammograms" button at The Breast Cancer Site. It's legit. According to Snopes.com, it takes 45,000 clicks to fund one mammogram. Click once a day if you can.

I regret buying a case of juice boxes last week at Madeline's request. I realize now that I absolutely hate juice boxes. For one thing, it would be so much easier if I could just throw them in the garbage, but no, I feel compelled to rinse them out and recycle them. No more juice boxes after this.

We managed not to buy Halloween treats until today, and I'm determined to keep the box unopened until Halloween. Last year, we bought some early and ate them. Then, Neil and I were both out shopping separately on the same day and we both bought a bunch more candy to hand out. We had WAY too much. And we didn't take any of it back to the store.

We sold a case of chocolate mint Girl Guide cookies last week, and we only bought three of the twelve boxes ourselves! (No wonder we don't need any Halloween treats right now.) Sophia really wanted to sell them door-to-door, but we ran out before we could do that. Perhaps we should get another case.

I enjoyed listening to Eddie and the Cruisers with Sophia this evening. She fell asleep right away, but I stayed and listened for awhile. Definitely one of my favourite soundtracks. It had been a long time since I last heard it.

Georgia has developed a cold. Major runny nose. Bleh.

The Cold Shots song

I've been trying to win an iPod Nano from Molson Canadian Cold Shots (enter once a day), and I like the song that plays on the site. So much so that I had to look for it on the internet. Apparently it's an unreleased remix of a song by Montreal rapper, B-U The Knowledgist. Lucky for me, a resourceful Calgarian made an mp3 of the song and put it on his blog.

To download: on a PC, right click on the link to the song (above) and select "Save target as..."; on a Mac, press option and click on the link. I just learned how to do that.

Is this hip-hop? I'm so clueless about that genre.

What can I say?!

Simply, these guys know how to put on a show.

And -- whether you're a fan or not -- there's no denying that these guys, the Rolling Stones, are living legends. I couldn't help but think, Wow, that's really Mick Jagger! Mick Jagger is actually right here in front of me. Part of the fun too, is marvelling at his energy. At 63 years of age, I think he may have more energy than anyone I know (including Sophia!).

The whole band seems to love what they're doing. I mean, how many times have they performed those songs?! To still put that much enthusiasm into each and every song is extraordinary. True showmanship. And who knew Keith Richards could sing? (Okay, probably lots of people, but not me.) I really enjoyed his song, You Got the Silver.

The concert was great, to say the least. I was particularily awestruck by the enormous stage -- especially the big screen -- and the fantastic light show. We sat pretty far from the stage, but it didn't really matter because that screen totally made up for it. I was very impressed by the technology and how the camera people worked their magic to display outstanding views of the action. Speaking of technology, I finally put my camera phone to good use. This was our view, but the photo makes it look much further away than it was.

The icing on the cake was the weather. It was so unbelievably mild and calm. T-shirt wheather at the beginning of Three Days Grace (whose performance I enjoyed too) and about 10 degrees Celsius at the end of the concert. And the full moon over the stage was just plain COOL! I'm hoping to see a professional photo of that.

Mosaic Stadium at Taylor Field, Regina, Saskatchewan, Friday, October 6, 2006
Photograph by Roy Antal, Leader-Post

Music, lyrics, and life

I was listening to a music station on the radio yesterday (something I rarely do) and I heard a couple songs that brought back memories. I love how music can take you right back. Instant recall.

The first was Gel by Collective Soul. It reminded me of driving to Seattle by myself to visit my Grandma in June/July 1995. I played Collective Soul (the self-titled album) a lot on that trip.

The second was You Shook Me All Night Long by AC/DC. It reminded me of volleyball warm-ups and "hitting" (volleyballs) at recess when I was in high school. AC/DC's Who Made Who album is synonymous with volleyball in my mind (as is Yaz's Upstairs at Eric's).

***

One of my favourite albums of all time, Live's Throwing Copper, reminds me that every person we meet -- no matter how brief (or seemingly pointless) the encounter -- adds to your life in some way.

Years ago, a few months before Neil and I started dating, I went on two dates with a guy who was clearly incompatible with me. For example, he told me he didn't agree with post-secondary education. Seriously. And why two dates? I have no idea. I'd say those dates were a total waste of my time except for one important thing: he introduced me to Throwing Copper. If not for that guy and those two dates, I may have missed out on Live completely and I'm very glad I didn't.

***

As yesterday was the anniversary of the World Trade Center attacks, I was reminded of the song, Keep on the Sunny Side.

On 9/11/2001, I was at home with Sophia (she was seven months old) and Neil was at the farm harvesting. Normally, Neil would've stayed at the farm overnight, but on that day, he came home to be with us. He told me that when he started driving, the CD player was on and he heard Keep on the Sunny Side (from the soundtrack of O Brother, Where Art Thou?). It seemed so appropriate.

Now, for me, Keep on the Sunny Side and September 11 are strangely inseparable. I don't think of one without thinking of the other, and that works for me. The song's optomism is comforting. Here are the lyrics I think of specifically:

"The storm and its fury broke today,
Crushing hopes that we cherish so dear;
Clouds and storms will, in time, pass away
The sun again will shine bright and clear."

(I didn't really want to write about September 11 because I don't like thinking about it. I'm sure I'm not alone. But, I think we have to think about it. We have to remember the depth of the tragedy. It's just not optional.)

I never ever thought...

...I'd be going to see the Rolling Stones in concert. I never thought I'd see them anywhere, let alone in my own city of Regina. And to be honest, that really didn't bother me because I'm simply not a big fan of theirs and I'm not a big concert- goer. Well, as of this morning, Neil and I have tickets for the Rolling Stones concert on October 6. I must admit I'm a little bit excited about it now.

There has been such a hullabaloo about the Stones coming to Regina since it was announced a couple of weeks ago. And I thought if I heard another word about the Roughriders' season ticket holders getting first dibs on tickets... well, never mind. (I was on the fence about the fairness of that, but had in the end agreed that it is season ticket holders who keep Taylor Field/Mosaic Stadium going and without a venue of that size, there'd be no concert here.)

We didn't even try to get tickets for the original October 8th concert. Neil said he'd like to go, but was resigned to the fact that we wouldn't go because it's a lot of money and he had already seen the Rolling Stones in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1995. So why did he decide to go for it and get tickets for the second date added yesterday? (And why did I let him?!)

Well, I think Neil felt (though perhaps not consciously) that he had passed up a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see the Stones here in Saskatchewan. So, when they announced that second date, it was as if he had been given a second chance. It was fate. He just had to try to get tickets this morning. And since he is a Roughriders' season ticket holder, he had a good chance of getting them today (before the general public has the opportunity to buy tickets).

The other factor in Neil's decision was that he really wanted me to see the Rolling Stones in concert even though I've said over and over that I didn't care to go. He assures me it'll be spectacular and worth every cent. (We certainly did not buy the most expensive tickets available.) I guess it is pretty special to have tickets to see the Stones. After all, the window of opportunity must be getting narrower; I mean, how long can they possibly keep doing concerts?! And it certainly IS a big deal for them to come to Regina. Wow!

I recently read an article called Dump the guilt and go for it in the Leader-Post (July 25). "The study weighed 'indulgence guilt' and 'wistful feelings of missing out' in common situations requiring a decision between practicality and pleasure." In my mind, this was definitely a choice between practicality and pleasure. At least we (especially Neil) won't have any more feelings of regret over this one.

I've been tagged

Jessica tagged me so here it goes…

01. Total volume of music files on my computer:
13.4 MB - that's only four songs. I didn't realize how big they were.

02. The last CD I bought was:
Avril Lavigne - Under My Skin.

03. Song playing right now:
No music playing.

04. Five songs I listen to a lot or that mean a lot to me (in no particular order):
I'm going to depart from this a little and just name CDs because I listen to whole CDs in the van. None of them mean a lot to me; I just like 'em, or the kids do.
1) Avril Lavigne - Let Go
2) Nickelback - Silver Side Up
3) Nickelback - The Long Road
4) Shrek Soundtrack
5) Shrek 2 Soundtrack

05. Five people I'm passing this baton to, and why:
I am passing this on to a few women whose blogs I enjoy reading:
1) Misty
2) Carolyn
3) Tammy
4) Kelly
5) ?

Silver Side Up

It's Saturday night, and I just got home (10:15) from shopping for a few groceries and diapers, etc. I do lead an exciting life, I know.

Actually, I really don't care that I was shopping on a Saturday night because I was alone, and these days, shopping alone is always a good thing. Also, being alone in my van means I can listen to whatever I want. I like that. And there's something about driving alone at night that just makes me want to crank up the music. (Oh, and listening to loud music while driving at night also makes me want to drive fast, but I really try not to speed!)

I had ample opportunity to turn up the volume last night as well. I drove about 225 km round trip to Weyburn and back last evening to attend a Jocus Toy party at a friend's place. I think that's somewhat out of character for me as I don't really like driving that much, but I wanted to get out and see some friends I don't see very often. I bought some neat toys for the girls' birthdays and enjoyed visiting with my friends, but I almost think the best part was just being alone for a couple of hours and cranking the music.

I listened to Nickelback's Silver Side Up the whole time. I have to be alone to listen to that CD because Neil absolutely hates it (he pretty much hates anything that's somewhat popular--just on principle, I think), and I won't play it when the girls are in the van; Sophia listens too closely and I don't want her to hear some of the lyrics.

For those unfamiliar with Nickelback, I think they'd be described as hard rock. (I don't really pay that much attention to music genres, so I'm not sure.) I love Silver Side Up, especially track seven (Look What Your Money Bought) which is probably the hardest/heaviest song on the album, and I like it loud. I've always liked stronger, faster, louder music more than soft and slow music. Of course there are many exceptions, but that's my preference in general. I wonder what that says about me. What makes people drawn to certain kinds of music? I may have to look into that sometime.

Canadian Essentials

This is interesting: Amazon.ca's Canadian Essentials

What are the most essential Canadian books, CDs, and DVDs of all time? The Amazon.ca editors have put together our choices for the 50 titles in each category--some familiar and some surprising--that represent the best that Canada has to offer.

So far, they've posted their picks for CDs. DVDs will be posted on August 17 and books on August 24. I'll definitely be checking back to see their choices.

Of the CDs listed, we have these:

• American Woman, The Guess Who
  
• Fully Completely, The Tragically Hip
  
• Jagged Little Pill, Alanis Morissette
  
• Surfacing, Sarah Mclachlan
  
• Up, Great Big Sea
  

Okay, that's kinda sad that we only have five of the top 50, but we're not big CD buyers. We also own Temptation by the Holly Cole Trio which is on the list of 'Great Canadian Records That Missed The List'.

Bedtime music

While on the topic of Sophia and music...

For several months now, Sophia's bedtime music has been Disc 5 of Like, Omigod! The '80s Pop Culture Box. Neil has been trying to convince her to let him put something else in, but she refuses. We do offer her children's music!

I'm sure that when she's older, Sophia's going to be overcome with nostalgia upon hearing these songs (the first four tracks):

• Owner Of A Lonely Heart (Yes),
• Mr. Roboto (Styx),
• I'm So Excited (Pointer Sisters), and
• Back On The Chain Gang (The Pretenders).

She especially likes Mr. Roboto!

And one of her very favourite songs that I play in the van is the Theme From "Greatest American Hero" (Believe It Or Not) by Joey Scarbury. Oh ya, you know the one I'm talking about...

Believe it or not, I'm walking on air.
I never thought I could feel so free-eee-eee.
Flying away on a wing and a prayer.
Who could it be? Believe it or not, it's just meeeee.

She knows many of the words and sings along quite well. It's cute. I like that song too.

I love a baby lion

This morning on the way to Sharon's, the song "I Love a Rainy Night" by Eddie Rabbitt was playing. Sophia asked me if he was saying "I love a baby lion". I said, no, he's saying "I love a rainy night" but she insisted it was "I love a baby lion"! I'm not sure if she was serious or just being silly. She usually picks up on the words very well, which means I have to be careful what I put into the CD player. (I don't normally listen to anything really questionable, but there are some lyrics on my Nickelback CD that I'd rather she didn't hear.)

The Funkified Chef

That's the title of a regular monthly column in SaskTel's employee newsletter, Ink. I'm the "guest funkified chef" this month which means I had to provide a bunch of information for the column. This is what I've been doing in my spare time for the past two days. I was asked to provide:

• a brief bio, including my location, job, interesting things I've done while employed here, my family, things I've discovered about SaskTel, etc.;
  
• a list of 10 people (living or dead, and well-known people, not just people who I know) I would invite to a dinner party, and why; and
  
• the menu I would serve them, including recipes.
  

Here's what I submitted:

My name is Kim Byrns. I grew up in Yellow Grass, Saskatchewan, and then lived in Saskatoon for six years while attending the U of S. There, I received a Master of Science in Marketing (specializing in Telecommunications Marketing). I started my SaskTel career in the Marketing department of SaskTel Mobility in October 1994, just three days after submitting my final thesis. I’ve been a Technical Writer in the Communications department at Mobility since 1997.

I’ve been married to an anthropology and sports-loving farmer for five years, and we have two beautiful daughters who are 3.5 and 1.5 years old. I’m a 25% partner in our grain farm operation (but I don’t do any of the actual farm work), and we also own eight bison that live with my parents’ herd of over 300. I have many personal interests for which I rarely find time, including scrapbooking, cardmaking, genealogy, and web design. I enjoy playing volleyball in the fall and winter, and this will be my second year on a dragon boat team.

I think one of the coolest things I’ve experienced at Mobility was to contribute to and witness the birth of both the SaskTel Mobility web site and the intranet site, Unplugged!, and then to see them develop into the excellent resources they are today. I remember when we had no online documentation at all, and just a few pages of paper documentation for cellular! It seems hard to imagine now.

Mobility has grown tremendously over the past 10 years, and it has been interesting, fun, and sometimes stressful, but never boring, to be a part of that amazing growth. I’ve worked with so many great people over the years and I feel really lucky to be a member of such an awesome team!

The Guest List

1. Alton Brown – host/creator of my favourite food show, Good Eats; he just seems like a cool guy, and food is one of my greatest interests.
2. Jackie Chan – combines athleticism and comedy like no other; he’s hilarious in one of my all-time favourite movies, Shanghai Noon.
3. Burton Cummings (and The Guess Who) – the only concert I regret missing is The Guess Who when they were at Rock in the Valley; I’d be in heaven if they just played No Sugar Tonight at this little shindig.
4. Theodor Seuss Geisel (“Dr. Seuss”) – obviously a genius; I wouldn’t expect him to converse in rollicking anapestic tetrameter verse, but I would really like to meet the man who would have turned 100 this year.
5. Wayne Gretzky – the quintessential Canadian champion; he seems so humble and down-to-earth despite his fame and fortune.
6. Mike Myers – brilliant comedian; I love how he so often displays his Canadian pride.
7. Bill Murray – great comedic actor with an outstanding movie career (my favourite: Groundhog Day); who wouldn’t love to have dinner with Bill Murray?
8. Jamie Oliver – chef/creator of Jamie’s Kitchen (the only reality show I’ve ever watched); I like his enthusiasm for food and his determination to help unemployed youth.
9. Seamus O’Regan – charming and intelligent co-host of Canada AM; he’d be a great conversationalist at any dinner party.
10. Mike Weir – first Canadian to win the Masters; so nice and cute; ‘nuff said!

And, of course, I’ll invite my husband too because he volunteered to do the cooking and he’s an expert steak griller!

The Menu

Red wine – Mateus Signature Douro 2000, Trapiche Malbec 2003, or Peller Estates Oakridge Merlot
Appetizer – Fresh Tomato Purée with Rustic Bread
Main course – Mustard & Herb Bison Steak,
Grilled-in-the-Husk Corn with Lime & Chili Butter, and
My Favourite Broccoli Salad
Dessert – Sunken Raspberry Cakes with Raspberry Sauce

(If you'd like the recipes, click here to download a PDF.)