First of the Season

Yesterday marked my first major event of the school year, and I hope that many more will follow! Last year will be a tough act to follow, with appearances by Metric, Tegan & Sara, the Royal Winnipeg Ballet dancing Moulin Rouge, and a roadtrip to Whistler for the 2010 Winter Olympics. I'm up to the challenge, though.

Last night I saw Canadian indie powerhouse Stars, and they put on quite the show. Between the white roses they threw into the crowd sporadically and the bubble machines that accompanied the light show they performed some of my personal favourites. I was worried that the concert would focus on the two latest albums of theirs, In Our Bedroom after the War and the Five Ghosts, but nearly half the songs they played were from my personal favourite Set Yourself on Fire. This means I had no voice this morning.

Next up? Who knows, but these are some of the shows etc. that I've got an eye (or two) on:

2010 World Junior A Hockey, in Penticton next week
the Royal Winnipeg Ballet's Wonderland, March
Reading Week Roadtrip to...?, February
any concert that comes near Kelowna, seriously.

update:
I should probably include my wine tour on my list of recent events, right? Yah, I went on a wine tour. Because I go to UBC in the Okanagan. And we're, like, the wine capital of Canada, eh?

For serious, though, I was introduced to the posh practice of wine tasting this afternoon. I tried six different wines at two local wineries, all for the huge sum of $2 (I have connections, y'know). Not only did I drink wine, but I got to watch some wine-making action, and drink some of the freshly squeezed Riesling grapes. Best. Grape. Juice. Ever. Even better than the actual Riesling wine, which, judging by the Tantalus sample I had, is my favourite. I also sampled a Pinot Noir, which was good, but was accented too strongly for my taste.

After Tantalus we hit Summerhill, which has quite the reputation, but which I found quite lacking on the part of our "guide." We won't go into that disaster. There we sampled a sparkling wine, of which they apparently make the best in the world, an ice wine, a red of some sort (I wasn't paying attention at this point), and a dessert wine that tasted terrible, like currants and stale cake. I do not jest. Obviously I'm not cut out for this wine connoisseur thing. Figures.

photo by Tantalus Vineyards