I have a story to tell – and it’s not just any story. It’s a story about a major moment of glory. The fact that I consider this a glorious moment is, I suppose, a testament to my eccentricity. My moment of glory could easily have been another, more balanced person’s moment of abject mortification. Also, as I can’t see any of you, myriad readers, I will have to trust that the glaze over your eyes isn’t sufficiently viscous to prevent you reading.

Firstly, I suppose it has to be established that I’m a bit creepy/fangirlstalkerish about certain musicians. These include The Weakerthans, The Decemberists, The Mountain Goats, Hey Rosetta!, and…Dan Mangan. I have been lucky enough to see every one of my mild (wild?) obsessions live, most recently The Mountain Goats just last night at The Rickshaw, a show which one of my friends described as the closest to a religious experience he’d ever been. In other words: I’ve been to some fantastic concerts. None of them, however, can quite match Dan Mangan’s show at The Vogue in Vancouver BC, on May 8th 2010.

Photo: Christine McAvoy

It was the third time I’d seen Dan live, the first having been at the Vancouver Folk Music Festival in the summer of 2009, where, after chancing upon him performing with a group of other musicians, I made sure to be there every time he was playing, the whole weekend. I then bought his first album and EP, waited with baited breath for his second album, and have lived and breathed Nice, Nice, Very Nice ever since. Needless to say, I was a little bit excited about Dan’s sold-out show at The Vogue. My group of Dan-loving friends that managed to get tickets got there early, and we set up camp in the third row. From the first note of “Sold,” we were absolutely enraptured.

Being the slightly-creepy-fangirl-stalker that I am, I had read some reviews of Dan’s other shows from his nation-wide tour. Many of them mentioned a magical moment during “The Indie Queens Are Waiting,” which is a duet between Dan and the fantastic Veda Hille, when, in the absence of a female vocalist on the stage, the girls in the audience took up Veda’s part. This being a hometown show for Dan, combined with the obvious rapt attention of the audience, led me to believe that the same magical moment would organically occur when Dan played “Indie Queens” at The Vogue. However, and this was an interesting, perhaps even revelatory moment for me – moments have to start somewhere, or in this case, with someone.

The moment of truth arrived: Dan’s wonderful ten-piece(!) band left the stage, leaving him alone with all 1150 audience members. He began playing the quietly mournful “The Indie Queens Are Waiting,” and, the first time that Veda Hille would have sung alone, there was a conspicuous, and total, silence. I swear Dan looked a little surprised, and, with a wry smile, he said, “I couldn’t find Veda Hille, to sing those parts. I don’t know where she went.” Honestly, what’s a girl to do? The next time Veda’s part came around, I was sure that everyone would sing along. So, right on cue, I belted out, “Are we cool now?”

ALONE.

And I was LOUD.

Photo: Christine McAvoy

Dan looked over, straight at the area that I was sitting, and, despite my heart beating about seventeen times its normal rate, I kept singing. This was one of those marvelous moments that teeter on the edge of complete humiliation and endless glory. The girls in the section around me joined in on the “aaaaahhs,” and Dan said, “Perfect pitch!” and “I don’t even need a band!” Each time the group of us sang the next bit of Hille’s part, the rest of the audience laughed, but I swear it was a joyful (not mocking!) laughter. (Really. Someone filmed this and it’s on Youtube, so I’ve had time to assess it whilst my heart is beating closer to a healthy pace.)

Oh, alright…

One of the many reasons that I think the show was so fantastic was the aura of love and support that simply radiated from the audience toward Dan. When they laughed along with us Indie Queens that knew every note of Veda Hille’s harmonies, I knew I wasn’t alone in being proud that Dan is a Vancouverite, and a humble, charming, incredibly talented one at that. The entire concert was a moment of affirmation that I came close to finding in the Olympics, but never truly did until Dan Mangan took the stage, smiled, and began to sing. By the time he played “Robots,” the entire plaid-clad audience was on its feet, singing along, buoyed by the joy of being in a crowd that, for once, wanted only to sing “Robots need love too!” and bask in an atmosphere of what I can only call complicit, reciprocal…well, love.

“Tina’s Glorious Comeback”-level-glorious? Definitely.

Photo: Christine McAvoy

This week’s word:  Mom

Mom: This is not a word that we felines use, except with the feline that conceived us, washed us and fed us, in those first few days of life.  My two-legger refers to herself as my Mom, which leads me to believe that Moms are the creatures that feed us and respond to our every whim.  I refer to my two-legger as my servant, so maybe Moms are that, only I get a feeling that there is something more. Really hate to admit it, for fear that it will get my two-legger to big for her bridges, but I do believe that something more is Love.

‘My two-legger is somewhat of an exceptional Mom, as she acts as a wonderful heating blanket every night (only someone should really tell her that to be a blanket, she shouldn’t move), she cuts me up the succulent green little tree-like things, and she’s always there for a hug when I need one.’

My 'Mom' in all of cuddliness. Someone just needs to tell the silly two-legger next to her to move on. Those are my hugs.

~FFR

She is the woman that instilled the confidence in me to speak my mind.

She is the woman that gave me the courage to stand by my convictions.

She is the woman that taught me most of what I know.

She is the woman that instilled a sense of compassion within me.

She is the woman that challenged me to be my best.

She is the woman that empowered me to believe that I could do whatever I set my mind to.

She is the woman that showed me I am equal to all.

She is the woman that made me feel loved unconditionally.

She is my Mom.

Love you Mom!

Thanks Mom! I love you!

Thank you Andrew!

Suppose I should have posted this on a Sunday or on the Sabbath, but in reality this is the kind of religion I celebrate daily (mainly by mauling Fuzzywiggle Furrypants with hugs and kisses).

Wishing you all a summer filled with love stories of your own!

Thought you could all could use a bit of Friday Love from her!!!  I know I can (and really this is purely selfish, so I can look at her beautiful face all day).

The moral of this story: Move to Chilliwack

Photo by Lola May

Dearest Emme,

I was walking along the streets of Gastown, and as I was doing some window-shopping, I noticed that I stared at beautiful clothes while thinking of you, longing to know when we’d hang out and talk Ubuntu, geeking out in our laptops. Yes, I admit it, Emme. I *am* a geek. A sweet, WordPress-trained geek. With a healthy dose of side skills as well. I know how to open a bottle of wine. YES! I learned to open wine bottles last year. I know – it’s like… I *should* have known how to, but oh well. I didn’t. But now I do. I even know about sustainable wines! Yes, my friend Anthony (from Farmstead Wines) distributes bio-dynamic wines, and I really love this kind of wine – I am sure you’d love it too. And yes, they are amazing. We should have a glass of a biodynamic wine when we go out chocolate-fondue-consuming

Oh, but you wonder which other skills do I have? Well, I can liveblog with CoverItLive does that count as a skill? Um… Let’s see… which other skill do I have? Well… I am great at hummingbird-ing my way around a room while remembering the name of each and every blogger who participates in the Vancouver Blogger Meetup. Heck, I even organize said meetup!

For all the reasons above, dearest Emme… since I speak WordPress, I am learning about Ubuntu and I’m all about empowering people to be and feel sexy regardless of age, race, religion … will you be my Valentine?

Love,
Raul

A tweetheart from @ericaha to Lola May:

Love you Lola! You’ll always be my crazy Valentines that gets me into the wildest and most hilarious situations, exposing me to the adventure, whilst always keeping me safe from harm.  Can never truly express how glad I am to have you in my life.  You rock my world!

And it would appear that the hussey really gets around.  For Kittyn:

I am shocked and aghast that there were *no* Valentines for the sexiest Kittyn I know! This must be rectified right now…

Kittyn, I had such a hard time choosing who to send a Valentine to…You hold just a purrfectly special place in my heart. I would ensure that you, oh lovely and lithe feline goddess, would have warmed cream for your coffee and a warm spot to snuggle next to a fire. Only the best for you, scented candles, oils and and any treat that you desire… All this would be yours, if I were honoured with your attention.

Alas, like my adoration for Emme, it must be from afar. My OperaGal is my heart’s desire and she is whom I lavish affection upon..

Tris

Love seeing the ‘love’ spreading it’s snuggly hug all around!  And don’t worry about Miss Fuzzywiggle Furrypants. There’s plenty of love coming for her too.  Her four legged pals are just using the regular post – something about wanting to send their scent.