| Fortune's Favour release! Canada AM TV 6/24/2008 |
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| About a week ago, I got a strange email. It was from one of the producers of CTV's Canada AM show. It suggested (truthfully) that I must be a superfan of GBS and that's who they were looking for to attend a mini-concert on Canada AM on the Fortune's Favour CD release date. I was issued an invitation to come to the show in Toronto with some friends! I had spent the week before agonizing over whether I should enter any of the CD secret show concerts they were advertising on the GBS website. I had decided not to, based on the cost of going up alone. Now that I was able to bring some friends, I decided it was kismet and accepted the offer. I couldn't understand how I had gotten invited. At first I thought it was contacts from the OKP, but the email was sent to an email addy that is not my OKP persona. Curiosity had me wondering up till the show day. I asked the producer, Tina, and she said she had googled GBS and my website kept popping up so she got my email from that. *big smile* I knew it'd pay off some day! LOL! Then I was faced with who do I invite? I sent invites out to a bunch of people I knew I could roadtrip with and who I thought could manage to share expenses with me for gas and hotel and get a few days off work. Andi and Michele ended up being the only ones available to do the traveling and the trek began when Michele pulled up in my driveway on Monday morning. My daughter and her boyfriend had offered to share some of the delicious food left over from their BBQ that weekend and we arranged to pick it up on the way to the PA Turnpike. I am so spoiled with Mike's cooking and his generous helpings. We were handed a half-dozen pieces of chicken breast, fresh local tomoatoes, lettuce and a half-dozen sodas in a cooler already packed with ice! Wow! He's a keeper! The ride was uneventful, thank God, and we arrived at Andi's near Buffalo about 7:30 PM. I asked Andi to do the driving from Buffalo to Toronto (TO). 7 1/2 hours in the car was enough and Michele had started her day driving from North Jersey early on Monday morning. I took it as another sign that I was meant to be there when we saw a double rainbow on the way into TO after we had cleared Customs into Canada. |
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| Here is a montage of photos I put together to show the whole rainbow, which appeared a little later. If you look carefully, you can still see the double rainbow. |
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| Andi's familiarity with Toronto got us to the Best Western hotel which was just down the street from CTV. Michele, Andi and I settled into the room and ate a supper of Mike's warmed up chicken breasts or peanut butter and jelly. We were all too tired to go out. After connecting to the internet to collect emails and such, we settled down to a fitful sleep. I am afraid I woke up both Andi and Michelle several times from snoring! The day dawned bright and warm, but not stifling. We checked out early and piled ourselves and our gear into the van. Google Maps said the CTV venue was 5 minutes away. They were absolutely correct! No problem finding the place, but parking was a block away in their lot. Driving past, we noticed some of the b'ys instrument cases stacked outside. |
| As we walked in the front door, Kim (Horatia) called my name and I noticed many other familiar faces waiting in the lobby. Just as we got there, my benefactor, Tina, appeared and shuttled us into a corridor to wait until we could go to the area where the band was playing. There were only a few of us there. Talk about an exclusive show! I was getting more excited about this by the minute. |
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| Finally, we were led to the little area where we had seen the instrument cases. I was a bit concerned because I'd found out we'd be standing the whole time. I am not too steady on my feet and cannot stand for a really long period without moving due to an accident 15 years ago. But there were some seats there and a fantastic breakfast! We barely had time to eat anything before the thing was to begin, so most people grabbed a coffee or tea and took positons in the small fenced-in area. Naz the amazing chef, had fresh cut-up fruit, peameal (salted Canadian bacon as it was explained to me), sausages, fried potatoes, french toast, fried onions, buns, water, coffee, tea...an amazing spread where everything smelled and tasted delicious! |
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| CTV sign photo by Michele Reilly |
| All photos by Anne Tenaglia unless otherwise identified |