So my brother, our cousin, and one of his friends went to see Gordon Lightfoot last night at the Metro Centre. Last time I was there was for Kris Kristofferson, and I was amazed at how intimate a big space like that could be. This experience was less successful, partly I think because of the sound. How often do you go to a show at a hockey rink and find the sound is nowhere near loud enough? Lightfoot's voice is kind of rough these days (I don't think it's ever completely recovered from his near-death experience a few years back) and he was hard to hear. But so was the lead guitarist, which tells me it was a more general problem.

Which was too bad because he was quite jovial and told a number of fun little stories I would have been glad to hear better.

However, he played "Early Morning Rain," "Edmund Fitzgerald," "Cotton Ginny," "Rainy Day Poeple," "Old Dan's Records," and a few other old favourites, as well as a number of songs I confess I didn't know. And I pretty much went to the show so I could be in the same room as Gordon Lightfoot while he sang, so I am really glad I went.

My brother missed the first set because he was at a workshop down the shore all day and it let out late--I was afraid he'd miss more, frankly. What was the workshop? Stunt action! I understand he spent the day climbing up and down walls, falling down stairs, and being launched into the air as if thrown by an explosion (but really by a sort of a catapult.) No, I don't plan to push him down the next flight of stair we encounter and see how he deals with it... but it sounds pretty cool!

Our cousin and his friend are both teachers, bless 'em, and talking to them reminded me why teaching was not such a good gig for me. We went out to the Old Triangle after the show, watched a little of the hockey game while the guys hung out with some friends, and we managed to get into a back part of the bar where the cover band was almost inaudible. This one didn't sound like the kind that makes me gnash my teeth, but why risk it? They were playing a Lightfoot song when we walked in, actually, and not doing a bad job of it. And I think they skipped "Barrett's Privateers."

Today we went out to the barn so my cousin, who likes horses, could meet Mitzi. My brother has no trouble riding around in my car full of horse hair but I think he's still allergic to the horse herself, which is too bad.

And now I think I'll go home and do some writing. We're at the point where Jordy starts to entertain horrified suspicions about Gareth, and I think Erica is going to have to become aware of them and get pissed off at Jordy. That'll just add to his anxiety for most of the rest of the book.