Thank you Elliot Smith. I'm listening to your XO album right now, which is adding an element of enjoyment and beauty to my otherwise busy and grey day. I'm sad you couldn't hang around for more, but thanks all the same.

I'm never gonna know you now
But I'm gonna love you anyhow

I was given another generous gift of tickets to a cocktail thingy and a folk/western concert tonight (a performance of "The Gift", a tribute to the music of Ian Tyson - part of the whole Alberta Scene festival) at the Centrepoint Theatre with Maggie this evening. I should be working late again, but my guess is that Elliot probably would've said F@$# it, go to the damn concert with your good friend. And I should probably support the festival, seeing as I was born in Alberta - although I read an interesting article in the Globe and Mail over the weekend about how most weird the festival concept is. The celebration of Alberta out here is great, but most Albertans will miss it as nothing nearly as elaborate has been planned to celebrate the province in its own territory:

Too bad Albertans have to go so far to celebrate
KATE TAYLOR
Saturday, April 30, 2005 12:00 AM Page R2
Alberta Scene is a jam-packed, 95-event, two-week arts festival marking the centennial of the Prairie province. It includes appearances by 600 artists from country stars Ian Tyson, Terri Clarke, Carolyn Dawn Johnson and Corb Lund to the musicians of the Edmonton Symphony, and from the dancers of the Ukrainian troupe Shumka performing Cinderella to the Guys in Disguise theatre company with a tongue-in-cheek salute to trailer-park women. Albertans can revel in it all -- if they buy a plane ticket to Ottawa.

Hey, who wants to guest write on this thing this week? I'm in stagnant waters this week.