HMMM - MONDAY ALREADY!

Pink/Black Masquerade Gown - 07 The Infamous Gold Gown - 08

First of all, let me just say "I HATE MONDAYS". Yes, I do! It's not that they are bad days, it's just that they are the first day of the week, and you have to use them to gear up for your full days' work. 24 hours just never seems to be enough for me. I hate mornings, and work much better in the late afternoon and at night time. Sleep??? What is that? I'm up at 9:00ish and in bed by 5:30am the following morning. Don't ask me how I do that, it just seems to be the way I'm built for some reason or other. I'm still fighting the cold I got in May but it's not because of low resistance. It's because hubby still has his cold, and it's a vicious circle going back and forth from him to me to him. I'm doin' the best that I can, but boy-o-boy is it ever hard.

Weather here in Saskatchewan has been absolutely gorgeous, with above average temperatures. There's been some smatterings of rain, but not enough to drive anyone crazy at this point, and our farmers definitely need it.

As for news, well of course there's the Regional Finals for the Senior Idol Competition which I'm entered in. (My voice is actually feeling much better. Still a little raspy but that should be gone by Tuesday Night). All my music is ready to go, and I'm probably about as ready as I'll ever get. I have two gowns to choose from "The Infamous Gold Gown" and the Pink/Black Masquerade Gown, both of which I love. (Both are at the top of the Blog)

Now, since this is the last year for Buffalo Days, our activities have been cut down tremendously. We are doing only "ONE" Fashion Show - you don't want to hear my opinions on that....it was supposed to be one every day, and the Final Tour - which is the parade. The rest of the time is spent doing whatever comes to mind that will help us get through the 4 days of Exhibition. Next year is a completely different thing and we don't know if we will be involved with the Ex or not. There are a lot of changes being made and we are not 100% happy with any of them. When it comes to people having a great fun time at the Fair, or making money, the new owners are opting for the Money. That being said, means that all of the individuality of the fair will no longer exist. There are no exhibits, no baking ribbons to be passed out, no photography contests, no art exhibits, no hobby exhibits. (you get my drift don't you) The Heritags Fashion Show is out, the Bay Fashion Show is out, No Rowdy Gang, No Spirit of Buffalo Days Costume Committee, No Pemmican Pete, No Pemmican Pearl, No Saskatchewan Express, and definitely NO BUFFALO DAYS. The only reason we still have it this year is because Kent and I would not let the group be pushed down the tubes into nothingness. We fought for wearing our heritage costumes this year, we fought for the fashion show, and we fought for the right to be on the grounds with our costumes on until the end of the ex instead of wearing the costumes downtown, changing into jeans n tees on grounds, then changing back to costumes when we were doing something that specifically required us to be in costume. (Duh - Where are peoples heads). Next year, there will be no mention of Buffalo Days, and the name will be different, so prepare yourself to be in an absolute sterile world of informercial type displays at your nearest event building. I will let you all know what plays out on that. Meantime, I'm getting ready for the competition, will start sewing another outfit for this year (if possible), and get ready for the Rider Game on the 23rd. GO RIDERS!

OH HAPPY DAYS & THE MAGIC OF IL DIVO

Who ever said that you can't have a dream. I had one, and danged if it didn't come true! IL DIVO, and I say this name with reverence. I have never experienced anything like this in my lifetime. I cannot tell you how magical it was for me to see David, Urs, Sebastien and my personal favourite, Carlos. Let's face it guys, I live in a small City, which is the capitol of Saskatchewan, Canada. We do not have 1,000,000 people in our city, more like 400,000 (if that), so we do not get the big name concerts. They skip over us like skipping stones over the water on a hot summers' day. 2009 - The best (and worst-that's another story) year of my life. IL DIVO! I get goosebumps when I even think of this group. I am a pretty reserved female when it comes to music. I hate hiphop, can't stand grunge, dislike Kiss with intensity. Give me Mario Lanza, John Denver, Perry, Bing and Frank anytime. Give me Nana Mouskouri, Julio Iglesias, Mirielle Mathieu, Demis Roussous,Heintje and any other european singer you care to name, and I'm a happy camper. So like a dirty shirt, I along with a few others purchased the platinum ticket for An Evening with IL DIVO. Did I get my moneys' worth? You bet I did, and more. I cried when they walked into the room, I cried when they sang Mama and Amazing Grace, and I cried because the entire centre was filled with magic that night. It was a program to die for, and you can bet that if they'd had 3 shows that day, I would have gladly been at every one of them. I wore the "Infamous Gold Gown" It didn't matter that we were in a Hockey Arena, it was a dress up affair for me. They were a class act, and I wanted to dress in a classy dress. Throw all caution to the wind here, I'm wearing "the" dress and that took care of that. The dress did cause conversation with Carlos and Sebastien. So I had to explain it all to them. I wish I'd had a video of this concert. It is very hard to describe something this fine. The Monitor was to die for (eat your heart out ACDC, Kiss and any other rock band who has to use a monitor - Yours doesn't come close! The stage took up close to 3/4 of the inside of the arena, and the boys made use of every foot of it. That ramp was great, we were surrounded by IL DIVO for 3 hours - can't beat that! The Music, and songs were powerful. This is a group where Carlos makes the song live. His voice is the power of the group, and when he sings, you feel the vibrations through every part of your body. The entire arena fills you with the sound of those 4 voices singing in unison and meaning every word they sing, no matter what language it is. Would I do it again - You bet I would, I would have done it even if I hadn't liked their singing - just to sit there and watch 4 good - no, not good - GREAT looking men who can actually sing and knock you off your feet with their good looks. The ceiling filled with lights, photos coming in over the monitor, along with fantasy backgrounds, the monitor like film coming down on the stage in 4-6 sections, with pictures being put on them like the monitors, spotlights covering the entire ramp, and coloures lights on the stage. This was a concert that I would give 10 thumbs up to (if I had them). I was left in absolute awe of the performance and the performers. These guys are true artists and I'm very proud to have met and shared some time with them at their concert in our fair "little" City. It didn't matter how big our population was, it didn't matter, that most of our music was C&W, and it didn't matter, that some of us wore our best and the rest of us wore our blue jeans and cowboy hats. On that one night, everyone got the same feeling, and it was transcending. We were all one, and for a lot of us - A Dream Came True.