Not A Happy Camper

Hobbes has to wear this until his leg heals. He is not very happy about it.

Billy Elliot The Musical

My wife and I wanted to go see Billy Elliot, the musical, playing at the Canon Theatre on Yonge Street. But we didn't want to pay full price, have you seen what a full price ticket goes for these days?So we decided to try our luck in the daily ticket lottery.

Here's how it works.

You show up at the box office at 5:30 on the day of the show and put your name into a drum for a random draw for 20 tickets to that nights show. The seats up for grabs were floor box seats, the furthest box being six rows from the stage. These seats regularly cost $107 each, but if you win the draw you could get up to two of the seats for $25 each. The draw takes place at 6:00pm sharp and the show starts at 7:30m. You have to be there at the draw at 6:00pm to win the tickets.

This is a shot of our seats I took with my iPhone. I had to be sneaky about it, but the seats are pretty good.

We were the first names pulled out of the drum and got to see Billy Elliot last night for $50.

Six rows up from the stage in a private box with one other couple who had also won tickets in the lottery. We ended up saving $157 off the price of the tickets.

There was a pretty big crowd by the time the names were pulled from the drum, so there are no guarantees that you will actually get tickets.This is also only in effect on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, but if you are looking for something different to do, why not give it a try. The odds are pretty good and even if you don't win some tickets to the show you can have a nice dinner downtown instead.

The show by the way, was really good.

Great story, great cast (for the most part), cool set, and the music was awesome.

If you were thinking about it, go, you won't be disappointed, especially if you get same day rush tickets!

What The Hell Happened to Spring?

Three days in and winter still doesn't want to let go.
Who knows what tomorrow will bring?

Monkey See, Monkey Do

Just 2 weeks after my youngest dog Calvin injured his from paw, my older dog Hobbes decided it was his turn for a visit to the vet for a paw injury of his own...Monkey see, monkey do.

The Little Red Lobster That Wasn't

Thanks to operation cat rescue yesterday, see post below, the wife and I were able to go to dinner with some old friends in London last night.

We tried this new little gourmet burger joint that Jen recommended in Wortley Village, called Relish.

If you like burgers, this place is for you.

But the best part about the dinner was being able to share it with our friends, Jim, Jen, Deb and Deb.

Good times.

Cat Under a Red Barn Roof

This stray cat showed up at my moms back door last spring. From the way she acted we could tell that she had been someones pet at one point before she had been abandoned to the streets. My mom and my brother took pity on her and let her stay on the back porch last summer and then even made a little home for her inside near the back door when winter came along.

Unfortunately my brother and his family are moving at the end of the month and the cat had to go.

My options were pretty limited. I could take her to the local shelter where if she wasn't adopted in a week, she would be put down, or I could kick her out onto the streets again and let her fend for herself. None of those options sounded good to me.

But then I had an idea and posted her story on my facebook page, hoping that someone would want her. And wouldn't you know it, in less than 2 hours I had found her a new home, thanks to my friend Deb in London.

Deb was able to set her up in a style that most cats only dream about, check out her new home.

Thanks to Deb's boss who owns the property, she will now be living with 4 cats in a heated barn, with all the kibble she can handle. The barn sits on 47 acres near St. Thomas. There are 3 goats in a pen next to the barn, 2 cat friendly dogs, 3 more cats living in the main house and two Clydesdale horses moving in next week.

There was another cat in the barn when we let her out of her cage. She was out like a shot to say hi and then was off exploring her new home before I even had a chance to say good-bye.

I often wondered about the life she had before she came to us. Who could just abandon their pet like that? I know I could never do something like that, and I wanted to make sure it didn't happen to her again.

Thanks to my friend Deb, I know that she will be well taken care of in her new home.

Spring Has Sprung!

Happy first day of spring everyone!If you are like me, this day has been a long time coming. It looks like its going to be a beautiful day, get out there and enjoy it!

Toronto Marlies Game

I went to see a Toronto Marlies game yesterday with my buddy Tony. The Marlies play in the AHL, which is a step below the NHL. The Marlies are the Maple Leaf's farm team, and some of the guys that play on this team have been called up to play for the Leaf's throughout this season. Yesterday's game was against the Adirondack Phantoms, the Philadelphia Philly's farm team. It was some really good hockey. We sat three rows up from the glass, and I have to say tickets were very reasonably priced. There was even some fightingand puck bunnies to keep your attention during the stoppages in play. The only thing missing from yesterday's experience was a Marlies win.
The cold beer though, helped to lessen that blow....

The Shit Show: My Trip On The TTC

I went to the Marlies game (AHL hockey, one step below the NHL) yesterday afternoon. Instead of driving, which would of taken 20-30 minutes, I decided I would be responsible and take the TTC.

What a mistake that was.

Let me just preface this by saying I am not a regular user of public transportation, and after yesterday shit show, I may never take it again.

The plan was simple, meet my buddy Tony in front of the arena at 2:30pm, in plenty of time for the 3pm start.

I started out on my journey at 1pm. Because of where I live, I had a brisk 30 minute walk to the streetcar stop, it was a beautiful day, I didn't mind the walk.

Unknown to me, there was construction on Queen street, and the streetcar wasn't running at this point on the line. I had to catch a bus at the streetcar stop, which took me to Greenwood, where I could catch an actual streetcar, which then took me to the subway at Queen and Yonge. Travel time to this point was 90 minutes.

When I got off the streetcar and entered the subway, I had a brief argument with the TTC collector because I tried to use the transfer the bus driver gave me, What?! After I explained to him that there was no streetcar service at the end of the line due to construction on Queen street, which he should of known, he allowed me to enter the subway and continue on my way.

I took the subway two stops to Union station to catch another streetcar which would take me to the Ricoh Coliseum for the game.

When I got to union station there was a long line of people also waiting for the streetcar to take them to the game.

When I finally got on a streetcar and looked at my watch, it was 2:45pm. I still had 15 minutes to make it to the game before it started, but for some reason the streetcar was moving literally only 5 mph on a dedicated line. It was at this point, that I started to lose my mind. The streetcar began to shudder and then stopped. The driver got up and left the streetcar for a minute or so, and then got back on board and started talking to the people at the front of the car.

It was now 2:50pm, I had been travelling for close to two hours and I had had enough of this fucking gong show. I made a break for the doors just as I heard the driver announce that the streetcar had broken down (no shit Sherlock!) and the car was now out of service.

I hailed the first cab I saw which just happened to be driving by and hopped in before anyone could figure out what was going on.

I was free! But then everyone started getting off the streetcar and my exit was blocked. I took pity on a mom and her two kids and made room for them in my cab. We managed to get past all the people who got off the streetcar and had moved to the next stop up the line to wait for another streetcar that would never come. How were they going to get on another streetcar when the one they got off of was blocking the tracks?

We made it to the arena right at 3pm for the puck drop, no thanks to the shit show that was the TTC.

Total time to get there? Two hours, using a bus, a streetcar, the subway, another streetcar and finally a cab for a total cost of $10.

Lesson of this story.

TAKE THE CAR.

Bad To Worse

I think its safe to say we are all tired of winter, especially my dog Calvin.

Calvin injured himself yesterday while out on our afternoon walk along the beach. I'm not quite sure how or where he managed to do it, but all of a sudden I looked down and his foot was covered in blood. After getting him home and cleaned up enough to have a look, we quickly determined that this was a job for the Vet. Unfortunately our regular Vet was all booked up and they sent us on to another clinic down the street who were able to see him right away. They had to cut off is nail at the base of his paw and then bandaged him up and sent him home with some pain killers and antibiotics. He has to wear a plastic cover they fashioned out of an IV bag over his bandage when we go outside to keep it dry. That should be FUN!

And if that wasn't bad enough, the Vet said Calvin is over weight and needs to lose about 10 to 12lbs!

Poor Calvin, yesterday was not his day.

Update: I took Calvin to the Vet yesterday to get his paw looked at and his bandages changed. Everything looked good and he was sent home without any more bandages. I also spoke with the Vet about Calvin's weight, looks like he is going on a diet.

Poor Calvin, when will the humiliation end?