It rained last night.  Freezing rain.  And then the temperature rose a bit above freezing, so basically all day it rained.  Which is absolutely horrid for the Rideau Canal Skateway!  And the ski hills at that.  Now I’m not sure if I can go skiing tomorrow night (which was the plan) or on Saturday (which was a hope).

I am really wondering what they do now with the canal.  Do they have to wait for another 2 weeks of below -10 C weather before they can let people on it again?

Although on another note, rain is kind of nice at this time.  It is just nice to have a bit of variety in the winter.  It just kind of plays havoc on all the norms in Ottawa during the winter.

The concert from Monday night has still been winding through my head steadily throughout this week.  It’s sometimes hard to focus when the music is still playing and the lightshow is still shining.  In some ways I’m super-distracted a lot and I think it’s funny that a band is doing it to me.

A friend Peter Onate asked me tonight whether it was the best concert I’d ever been to.  I quickly replied “yes!” Afterwards I thought about it a bit more and I think it’s really hard to answer that question because concerts are so different!  The Switchfoot concert last year was awesome because we were really close to the stage actually and it was a fun time.  What else have I been to…. I can’t recall.  The Coldplay concert was epic because I knew all the songs, knew many of the words, and wanted to see how they did it live.  But I have to say, when you compare a live concert with the live experience from a music DVD it’s really hard to state which is better.

At a concert you have usually one vantage point and that is what it’s like for 2 hours.  You resign yourself to that position.  You decide to enjoy it for all its worth from right there.  You dance it up on the spot, you look around, you wish they were closer, or you wish you could feel the enormity of the whole arena (if you are much closer).  In a DVD, you have professionally mixed sound, multiple viewpoints, and close proximity at some angles.  You can get totally into it but I don’t ever find myself jumping up and down while watching a live DVD.  It’s not the same.

Furthermore, having done live sound, lighting, and video, I have a perspective that might be insanely unrealistic.  That is, I dream of lighting arrangements.  And expect concerts to rival my imagination.  And even the largest bands are limited in their ability to put on a light show.

An amazing concert should plunge people fully into the music through the atmosphere and the visuals.  It’s pretty lame when a concert simply has the performers standing there and performing.  Well, maybe let’s even make a distinction between concerts and shows.  I would likely be quite excited about a concert where the performers are so talented they could just sit there or stand there and play and everyone would be amazed (a la John Mayer, Phil Keaggy, Kid Koala to name a few).  Coldplay doesn’t just do concerts, they do SHOWS.

It was great to see the globey lights suspending and still be really intrigued by them.  They could light up and change colours and even project video inside them.  There were points when the live camera footage would display in the globey lights.  It amazed me actually to see different footage on the side screens, back of stage sreen, and the globey lights all at the same time.  Sometimes it was live camera, sometimes related video (eg. video and images from Japan during “Lovers in Japan”), sometimes just decorations (eg. Viva logo, Delacroix painting).  If they didn’t have live camera footage I would have been quite disappointed since I was so far away from the stage.  This brought the band much closer.  (note: they didn’t film this show for any kind of live DVD evidently because of all the kinds of cameras used — they were mainly huge depth of field kind of lenses and cameras)

Two songs from Viva La Vida really got people really pumped: “Viva La Vida” and “Lovers in Japan”.  “Viva” got everyone pumped simply because of its poppy and catchy rhythm and melody.  That song was obviously written to be performed live…  with the “whoa whoaoooh” part for the crowd to sing while Chris Martin sang the chorus; with its pulsing strings.  In some ways, during the concert I really didn’t care whether it was very tracked with non-live instruments because I was just so excited!  In my section not too many were standing up but when Viva started pumping, I shouted to my friends and got them to stand up.  Even after that there were still people sitting around us, some only getting up for the rousing bridge part (with the whoa whoaoohs).  “Lovers in Japan” was just made to be truly epic because at the beginning of each round of the chorus, millions of small paper butterflies sprayed and drifted from the lighting racks at the top of the roof.  It glittered like mad and it made the song just so amazing.  The lights flashed to the pounding of the beats and it was just so full.  My video in my previous post shows a lot of this.  The funny thing is, I looked down at the sound guys and they had these little canopies they would unroll as the butterflies came pouring down to protect the sound boards from being littered with confetti-like things.  The sound guys would blow away the butterflies and then hide under the meshing and control the dials and faders from under!  Well thought through!

Another song that got the whole crowd together was “Fix You”.  I’m not sure why, but everyone really loves that song.  Chris Martin describes it as unpoetic and raw.  I think that’s what people love about it.  It’s raw.  It’s bare.  The emotion isn’t hidden by any uninterpretable symbolism.  Everyone understands the song: something has gone wrong and you’re trying to make it right again.  So everyone sings along.  The song clearly moves from the lone voice of Chris Martin to the chorus of community near the end when the whole band sings and invites everyone to join in.  “Fix You” cuts to the deepest parts of our souls.

Unfortunately the band ended with “Yellow” which I think isn’t really one of their best songs (although it seems to be their most cherished and popular).  They only did that one song for the encore.  I wish it had been a more musical and engaging song than that one.

It seems other bands will have a high bar to match.  I wonder who would match or beat it?

Tonight after having dinner with one of my friends Dan, I went to Bayshore Mall to go to Mrs. Tiggy Winkle’s toy store to find a game.  It’s called “Bang” and I’ve wanted to purchase it since playing it on overseas this summer.  Basically, the game is a structured (more intense) version of Mafia, using a Sheriff, outlaws, deputies, and a renegade.  Some nights we played this game until 1am in NA, it was crazy and so addictive.

Unfortunately, the store that referred me to Bayshore was incorrect and identified another game named “Bang! Zoom!” or something to that effect.  Bayshore didn’t have any stock of the game I was looking for.  I wanted to get this game before some Ottawa U students game to chill after the meeting tomorrow night.  It looks like we’ll have to have some other kind of gameage.

I thought I had wasted some gas and some time there so I decided to walk around the mall a little to redeem the time.  There weren’t too many stores that looked appealing but I ended up entering West49 and strolled about looking at the newest skater styles and shoes.  There wasn’t much there that was my style, whatever my style is.

As I walked out, the store manager intercepted me and said something, which is when I did a double-take and was like “whoa dude!” because I recognized him from Toronto.  Chesterton (that’s what I’ll call him here) was a friend who worked at Sporting Life Bikes and Boards with me way back when I was in high school.  He left The Life a bit of time ago for West49 and loves it, now he’s actually managing some stores here in Ott.  We chatted for a decent amount of time and now we are reconnected.  Not sure what will happen but I’d definitely like to figure out a way to go biking or boarding with him sometime in the Gatineau.  Chesterton seems like a really great guy who cares a lot about where he’s headed in the business, and I’d like to see what God’s loving and perfect plan is for this dude.

This occurrence kind of made my evening, rounded it off well.

There are days when at the end of it all, everything is right and there is no way to describe it.  For some reason, we try.

I went for a brief hike in the Gatineau Hills.  First I sat in the parking lot, reading my Bible and pondering what it meant for Paul to write clearly that Jesus was there from the beginning, that all life is sustained by Him. Sometimes I read and then I start thinking… “I should have referred to this passage when talking to this person!”

The Gatineau roads are still closed to cars for the most part.  So I walked up the closed road and slowed down my pace a lot.  The sun was shining super bright.  I was wearing shorts and t-shirt.  No camera in hand, no music, no one else.  Just me and God.  I listened to the sound of the snow and ice on the road crackling as it melted and evaporated.  I listened to the sound of the snow crackling beneath my shoes as I walked.  I stood next to a bubbling brook and watched the water flow out into the open patch and flood the area.  I scrambled up a set of mossy boulders, clutching some trees for help and ducking to avoid branches in my face.  For the most part, I ignored the others who occasionally walked by or cross-country skied.  As I returned to the parking lot, a man looking quite comfortable with his wide hat passed me and said “Bonjour”.  I nodded in response and walked back to my car.  I drove along the War Museum and smiled at the rapids all along the Ottawa River… one day I will kayak them.

I made lunch, I had soup and bread and butter.

Later in the day after going out for the afternoon, I got back home and checked Facebook.  I decided to get rid of Facebook.  In three days I will no longer care to use Facebook.  Goodbye Facebook, hello Life.

Feeling peace, I picked up my guitar and plucked a few chords, which turned into Enough.  I sang, I remembered my downstairs neighbour, and I didn’t care… I sang anyway.  I understood what Enough means.

I was so excited that it was so warm out.  I went for a bike ride, I negated putting on all my bike clothing and just put on my gloves, helmet, and shoes.  I biked for almost two-and-a-half hours all around the city.  It was beautiful out… along the Rideau Canal, up along Rideau St., found some park along the river, somehow crossed to 111 Sussex, passed the WWII War Memorial and the massive falls by the Prime Minister’s residence, passed the National Gallery, the Basilica, the Parliament, the Supreme Court, and all down Lyon Street.  The full moon (fine, it was 98% full) was out in full glory along with the full blown sunset and rainbow dusk skies.  At the falls I sang out, no one could hear me since the rumble was so loud.

I live in such a beautiful city.  Architecture, nature, sports.  The river, the canal, the marsh, the hills.

The past few days haven’t been easy, a lot has happened personally and I’m still reeling from it all.  But I’ve asked God to give us peace and He’s answered.

In 2 Peter 3, it talks about looking forward to heaven… it notes:

So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him.

So I guess for God, He asks us to seek all of the above.  I think I’m understanding what He is asking of me more and more.  Peace… who would’ve thought that was absolutely necessary?  I’m glad He provides it, I don’t have to whip it out of myself.