U2 Green = Main Floor: Blue = Ellipse

U2 - Part 1

It has taken me a while to put this blog up because it was an experience that I won’t forget and I wanted to just ponder on it for a while.

Monday night was a night that Chris and myself have been waiting on for many months. We had 2 tickets for the floor at the first of the U2 concerts in Toronto. Part of being on the floor was the possibility of getting into the ellipse. The ellipse is the area in front of the stage that only 300 people get into. It has a catwalk around it. The end of the catwalk is where the main crowd stand for the show.

Doors wouldn’t open until 6.30 but I was there to line up at 12.00. Chris came from work and joined me just after one; I introduced him to the folks that I had been chatting to over the last hour.

We sat down and started to play cards. As we were sitting there someone noticed a car pull up beside where we were sitting. A Yukon with tinted windows. The front window rolled down and we couldn’t believe it but Bono was sitting in the front seat. I think everyone was stunned because no one really moved. Chris and I jumped up and ran over where we were able to get a picture. Chris got to the car and shook hands with him and said ‘thank you’ bono replied ‘don’t lose your spot in line’. He turned to me and I shook his hand he then asked me my name. I said PK. I was about to say more but I was swamped by the crowd and I was pushed out of the way. I didn’t care. I met Bono!

U2 - Part 2

At 6.30 the doors were opened as planned. We made our way down into the entrance hall where the first security guy checked our tickets. From where we were standing we could hear random screams. Later we found out that the screams were the people winning the draw to get into the ellipse. After we get our tickets scanned we head to a table where you are given a green armband and there is a computer set up.

Everyone goes to the computer to get their ticket scanned a second time. Once scanned the computer either read - Enter main floor or it flashes and says you have made it into the ellipse. They scanned both our tickets and neither of us won. Just past the table the barriers led you to the main floor but I noticed to the right there was a group of people standing looking happier than the rest of us. That was the group of people who had managed to win entry to the ellipse.

I grabbed Chris’s arm and told him to follow me. We went and stood in that very group laughing and cheering. We got up to the table and they didn’t recheck the tickets. They stamped our ticket with a cool 3 leaf clover stamp. Gave us our blue armbands and said congratulations for winning.

I couldn't believe it. Sneaky Sneaky

We made our way down to the arena where we were sectioned off and told to walk down a different path. At the end of the path we entered the ellipse. We had succeeded. We were in.

Inside the ellipse we had so much room. I said to Chris that we should stand at the back area because the catwalk came right behind us and we would literally be 2 feet from the band and that is where we stood.

The whole night was incredible. The set that they played was more than expected. They definitely exceeded my expectations. Pictures and more thoughts will follow in the coming days.

2 things

1.

I bought myself a camera today. I like it.

I should have more pictures to put on my blog soon.

2.

I don't think that I will be able to sleep tonight. I am going to see U2 tomorrow evening. Chris and Myslef have backstage tickets, well...... not really backstage tickets but we are going to try and get backstage. We are considering all the options. We are feeling lucky!

Peeing On Ice

My favourite loo's are the ones where they put ice cubes in the urinals. What great satisfaction it is to see how many ice cubes you can melt before you are done. So relaxing. Bring on the ICE.

Bear Hunting

The day went like this:
10:00 am - Guests Leave
12:30 pm - Lunch
1:30 pm - Work Projects Begin
4:00 pm - Final meeting of the summer
4:30 pm - Goodbye hugs
5:30 pm - Mark, Eva and Eli Wallace; Jono; Jamie and Myself head to Windemere
8:00 pm - Drive back
8:30 pm - Bear hunting (not to kill - just to watch)

This is where I will cut in as the details are necessary.

I decided that I would go bear hunting. Across the highway from camp is where our large bins are. That is where we throw all the trash from camp. There are certain times that are key times to see bears and around this time was one of them. I drove over and parked in the perfect place so that I the whole area covered. There was one of the biggest bears that I had seen this summer and it was making quite the noise with its grunting and sorting through all the garbage.

I don't exactly remember what happened next but what I do know is that I woke up at 12:00 am. Yes I had fallen asleep in the truck. I was cold and busting to go to the loo so I decided that it was time to head back to camp. I turned the key and..... Nothing. I tried again.... Nothing. Oh crap. So there is one little Irish guy, stuck across the highway, busting to go to the toilet with a truck that will not start.

I grabbed my flashlight (torch) as this would give me a sense of security and safety. But of course that didn't work. Great! In the dark I searched around the seats looking for my phone that I knew was in there and finally I found it, but who do I call? I tried Jono but of course his phone was off, I tried Chris Evans oh yea his phone was off as well and I knew there would be no one in the office.

For some reason I tried the lights in the truck and they worked. So there was enough battery to have the lights on but not to start it - smart. Wish I had tried that before I started looking for my phone.

I decided that I had 2 options.

1. There is a large stick in the back of the truck. I could grab it and run back to camp beating the crap out of whatever gets in my way.
2. Sleep in the truck overnight. It was pretty cold but I think that after reading all my SAS books I could stick one night.

Not a lot of options. I sure wasn't getting out of the truck after the noise that the bear was making earlier. He could still be there. Hungry. As I was putting on my extra clothes to sleep overnight I remembered secret option number 3.

Phone Mark Wallace. Successful call, he was awake and keen to come and rescue me. Over he came and drove me back to camp. I was safe, alive, hungry and still needing to pee.

What a night.

What a week

Classic has finished and right now i am sitting at home recovering from such a crazy week. Lack of sleep, extra stress and missing meals meant that i started to get sick. It started off with a cold and then moved towards my chest. So now i am trying to catch up on the sleep that i lost. I am still coughing but things are looking good.

Classic: Day One

Classic is now under way. It has been a crazy few weeks but here we are in our last week of camp. Classic is a week for Senior High guests only (14+) they come and experience what could be their final week as a guest here. This week is very different from your normal week. The games, electives, bands, dramas and snacks are incredible. Everyone plays the games together so you can imagine the type of planning that needs to be done for 407 guests running around.

Yesterday was opening day. Things didn’t really go as planned. 20 mins before the guests arrived we had to move indoors as there was a storm coming in. Then …… it hit and it really hit. We had to direct the cars do drop the kids off at the cabins rather than the parking area as it was too bad for people to walk around in. In the midst of this we still had our crazy dancers in their 50’s gear dancing and greeting cars. Please note that when I say 50’s I mean year of 50’s not 50 year old people style.

After the intor we havd everyone pumped to play the game and the rain hit again. It was not going to be possible to play a game in this and being in charge of Classic I have to make the sucky decision to scrap it. Luckily I have had friends visiting me from Alberta. Their band is called Gaetz Ave and they were meant to be in Ottawa on Sunday night for a show. One of the band guys was in a little accident and their van is pretty mashed up. Fortunately they were sitting watching the opening show and with 45 mins notice they were good to play a concert for the guests. I think most people enjoyed them. I did and that is all that matters…. I think….

Today the rain is off. I think that I am going to go and grab a nap. Late nights + early morning = tired PK


www.gaetzave.com

Gaetz Ave are about to go on tour with Thousand Foot Crutch - very nice.

Sorry not a very funny blog. I am tired today.

Crash bang, oh where is my apple?

I have always been a pretty good driver. I am safe, confident and most of the time don't suffer from road rage. This summer I had my first accident. I was driving a golf cart up towards the village at camp coming up around the side of one of the buildings I was turning right but for some reason I was looking left. As I turn the corner I turned my vision towards where I was heading only to see another golf cart coming in the opposite direction. The person who was driving this golf cart (no names will be given) was also going pretty fast but his attention was not on where he was driving but what a group of kids were getting up to. The problem was that when I looked to see where I was going it was too late.

Now when I say he was driving a golf cart it was a little more than a golf cart. This vehicle is called a Ranger and it used by the maintenance guys who need a bigger stronger vehicle than your normal golf cart. We did our best to swerve but it just wasn't meant to be. We smashed our golf carts together and sat for a second in disbelief as to what had just happened.

This will seem really incidental but I was eating an apple at the time. And what a great apple it was. We get fresh fruit delivered almost daily but finding a good apple could also be compared to finding a needle in a haystack. On this occasion I was eating that needle. It was perfect with amazing texture and taste. I had only eaten just over a quarter of it until I was involved in the accident. You may be wondering where I am going with this but I lost my apple in the crash. I have no idea where it went. After asking the other person (still remaining nameless) if he was ok and checking to make sure no one saw the crash I looked down and this apple, golden nugget, needle (whatever you want to call it) was no longer in my possession. I jumped off the cart and looked for it. I never did find it.

I never used to believe about spontaneous combustion until that moment. I guess that I should be glad that it was the apple and not myself.

But I really do miss that apple.

By the way I did write-off that golf cart and it did have to be sent back. Oops

Seagulls - love em or hate em

I neither love birds or hate birds, but for some reason I don't have much luck with them. Let me tell you the history.

Incident One:
When I was younger I was fishing. As I cast my line out a seagull decided that it was hungry and tried to catch my bait. It missed but somehow the line managed to wrap around the seagulls wing. I watched as the bird plummeted into the water. Trying to swim, fly, or not drown I decided to reel it in. I felt slightly embarrassed as everyone started to over to watch. I had to use a net to lift him out of the water as I didn't want my line to break. Setting him down carefully I proceeded to try and unwrap him. The stupid thing kept pecking me and nipping me even though I was trying to help him. I didn't know how to stop it so I ended up flicking him on the head as a punch would be a little extreme. I took the line off his wing, picked him up and threw him back in the water. The stupid bird flew away. I was left with a damaged line, feathers in the net and marks on my hand.

Incident Two:
Walking downtown Toronto with my brother who was visiting me and Chris Schryer we decided that hunger was winning and we would get some street meat. I adore steet meat, infact when I am downtown I make a point of getting it. This time I was so hungry that I could already taste it in my mouth. Getting there I ordered 1 dog (cause that is what you say apparently) and a coke. The guy handed it to me and told me the price was $3.50. I didn't know what to do, both my hands were full and the money was in my pocket. I would have asked Chris to fish it out but that probably wouldn't have looked to good. Behind the vender was union station so I set my food down got my money handed it to him and as I turned I realised that there was about 15 seagulls attacking my food. I generally don't really lose it but on this occasion I did. I think it was the combination of my hunger, love for street meat and past experiences with birds.

I don't know what came over me but I charged for my food and punched a seagull. I didn't think that I had really hit it that hard until I looked over the edge and saw it falling.

That put me in a really bad mood. I refused to get another one and there was that awkward silence as Jonny and Chris didn't know what to say. The knew I was annoyed as they didn't even make a joke for at least 2 hours. (never mess with my food!)

Incident 3:
This was the worst and emotionally scarred me for hours.
I was called up towards the guys cabin where a Senior High guest had thrown a rock at a seagull and managed to hit it. By the time I got there you could tell that it was pretty serious. It's neck was in a really bad position, it had thrown up food, and it was bleeding from under its wing and its mouth. I went to get a box to put it in and it was obvious that the thing was about to die. It couldn't keep its eyes open.

I decided that the good citizen that I am that I would help assist this bird with it's passing on to another life. I got Chris Evans as I needed the emotional support.

I won't go into the details as to how we ended the life of this bird but let me say. That thing put up a fight. We did break its neck but then it kept moving and rolling around. It took several attemps and we ended up doing other things that ensured its death. Being the good man that I am I put it in the box and decided that I would dispose of the body.

On my way to the dump I was stopped by a couple of staff outside the Tuck Shop. We stood there for easily 5 mins chatting about the day. I told them what was in the box and they wanted to see it so I showed it to them. Standing with the box under my arm I can only describe as one of the scariest moments in some time happened. I don't know what the bird did in the box but the thing jumped up and started moving. I screamed and dropped the box, i had to refrain from swearing cause that is how scared I was. I honestly thought that I had shat my pants. Shaking, I picked up the box ran up to the dump threw the box in and closed the lid.

I had to go and have a cup of Tea and a Kitkat chunky to recover. I have never killed an animal before and hope to never do it again.

My Burn after 2 weeks

My Burn after 2 weeks

Another Year, another burn

The summer started off in a way that I didn’t plan or want to happen. Exactly the same thing happened this year to the day that happened last year. Yes I burnt my hand again. Except this time it was worse. It wasn’t just one hand but on both. So you can imagine the fun I had trying to keep that from getting bumped.

I was making a cup of tea for myself and James King who comes up each year to teach the staff on first aid. I personally think that he sets me up to get burnt cause it happens each time that he is up. It works out well. He has a real life example of a 2nd degree burn and examples of what you shouldn’t do. (I did the right thing this year actually)

It sounds like hero story but that was not the intention. As I said, I was making tea and I started to carry it back to the table. As I turned around these kids started running in my direction and were running towards me. At the last moment I turned round quickly so as to not pour the tea over them. The result was I poured the tea over both hands. I wanted to drop the tea and scream but sitting right in front of me was a 2 year old child and a grandmother. I gritted my teeth and walked to the nearest table, set down the drinks and ran to the kitchen where I filled up a bucket of water and proceeded to keep my hands submerged for over 30 mins. That night was the worst. I couldn’t believe how much my hands were still burning after 4 hours. I ended up having to sleep on the sofa with my hands dangling into buckets of water. This caused me some concern as I remember that we used to prank people by dipping their fingers in water while they were sleeping so that they wet the bed. I was just setting myself up for a disaster.

Just to let you know that I did not wet the sofa. I did wake up with an estimated 21 seconds to make it to the nearest toilet. My timing was wrong, I did not make it to the toilet, the nearest bush suffered. I think that was a little too much information.

Soooo Sorry

I do apologise for my lack of updates this past month or so. Hopefully my lack of updates will give you an idea of how busy I have been. I keep meaning to but never get around to it. Over the next day or so I will try and update the random events that have happened this summer.

Congratulations Chris & Sarah

Abigayle Christine Holt Evans was born at 1:01 am june 11 2005. She came out 9 lbs. 8 oz.

I called into the hospital today to see them and can i just say that they have an amazingly beautiful baby.

Well done Chris & Sarah

Week 2 @ the Woods

It is Sunday night and I am sitting in the Muskoka Woods office in Toronto, I am just finishing up a few last minute details before I pick the J2 section head up at the airport and begin the journey up to camp. It is going to be a late night but I am really excited to spend a few hours chatting to Jen as I have only ever talked with her on the phone.

Week one up at the camp was a little crazy. The weather was incredible, and it seemed that each day was long. But when I look back now the time flew in. We have some amazing staff this summer and I am very excited and anxious to get the summer under way.

I had the opportunity to lead worship most mornings in our staff devotion times and I loved doing it. You might not know but I retired from playing music for over a year. I had lost the desire to play and not once did I pick up my guitar, but now I find myself slowly coming out of retirement. I wish I had the desire to practice more. Maybe that will come with time.

Week two will probably be just as crazy. It seems like there is so much going on that what you need to do will never get done. If only there were a few more hours in the day, and I didn't need my sleep so much.

Nothing strange or new really in my life, no random experiences or funnies to tell. I remember laughing a lot last week, yet I don't remember what I laughed at. I think I need to slow things down a bit.

Back at the Woods

This time of year has once again arrived. We are back up at the camp getting ready for the guests that are coming in this summer. As a directors team we have been together since the start of May and now the leadership have arrived and it is great getting to know them, catch up from last year and make them do the dumbest things cause at this stage of camp you can get away with it.

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I am very excited for the summer on a personal note. This is somewhere that I feel alive, energised, challenged; where you are given responsibilities that you often feel that you shouldn't get. When you look back at other summers you realise how much you have grown spiritually and matured with the responsibility you are given.

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Our staff for this summer is great and I am excited to see how this summer unfolds.

PK @ finish line - Nike RunTo 10k 

PK @ finish line 

Chris, Erika & PK - Nike RunTo 10k