Has been ages since my last post. That is probably a good thing and means we’ve been busy.

Got out for a round of real (ball) golf on Canada day. Weather cooperated, which was nice since the greens sure weren’t. The good news is that thanks to some really great chipping lessons and tips, and a night of practicing chipping at the park, my chipping game is really coming along. I think eating lots of chips has also helped

The Monday after Canada day, we took off up to Edmonton to see Green Day. **spoiler alert**.The Green day concert was absolutely wicked. They play for 2 hrs and 15 minutes and I loved every minute of it and was sad when it was over. Billie Joe was so full energy spraying the crowd with water, faking orgasms, bringing people up on stage to sing-you can read the full review of the Vancouver show (same as Edmonton) here. Not sure if it was the acoustics or the band or both, but their pitch was spot the entire show of singing and screaming. They started by playing their entire new album, 21st Century Breakdown. We bought that album a while back and I just couldn’t get into it. Then I saw it live and loved it! Actually, I’m listening to it right now. After playing the whole album they went old school and played songs from Dookie and Good Riddance. As with Offspring, I expected them to be out of their prime and I was so wrong. I’d say that they are completely in their prime and if you get the chance to see them on this tour you should definitely go . I’m so glad we went with the floor tickets. Jeff and I are venturing to say that was one of our favorite concerts ever. Edmonton is a bit of a dive downtown but we stayed at the Westin (which nice and we used Hotwire for the first time), caught dinner at a pub before the show and then spent the next day at West Edmonton mall.

Upon our return from Edmonton we were in full swing of Stampede here in Calgary. Managed to catch a few pancake breakfasts (probably an unhealthy amount), take in our favorite event of Cattle penning, saw sheep herding for the first time,  and took in the chuckwagon races and grandstand show. They were advertising an “all new” grandstand show this year and I’d agree that it was new and way better than past years. They have cut down the amount the singing and dancing from the Young Canadians and have added an edgy comedian and way more action. It’s more like a cirque de soleil now instead of a bad Vegas musical. And they definitely did not cheap out on the fireworks this year. As I was watching them I was wishing I had an extra eye  like the Simpson’s fish.

Were fortunate to check out The Offspring in concert on Friday. This has been a dream of mine to see this band for years! They have never put out an album I didn’t love. Some might argue that they had a few flops (Splinter for one), but I’ve loved it all. They have been putting albums out since 1990, so I wouldn’t exactly say they are in their ‘prime’ but that’s where expectations come into play (or should I say come out and play

I went in expecting to see a great band with wicked songs that are just beyond their prime, so I LOVED it. If we went in expecting it to be 1994 and hearing Self Esteem for the first time, we would have been very disappointed. In retrospect we should have gone in expecting it to be a horrible show, much like Jeff did with the Killers. He expected to be bored and was blown away. Having said that, I’d say the Killers are in their prime.

The crowd did not disappoint. Our seats were perfect for watching the mosh pit and the punk characters that the show drew. The crowd was full of energy from start to finish. As we were emptying the stadium the crowd was still yelling, singing, high-fiving and super energetic – I felt like we had just won the Stanley cup (WAY TO GO PENS!).

How flattering when a band gets drown out by the crowd of thousands screaming their lyrics? That’s the highlight of live music for sure. We got to sing the key part of “Bad Habit”. Another highlight of seeing Offspring is the Intermission. They played their song intermission and brought out beachballs – brilliant! During the show the lead singer Dexter brought out a piano and played “Gone Away” and that was pretty sweet.
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Got us pumped up to see Green Day next month- another band on the list.