HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Hi everyone:

Last night, Patty and I brought in the New Year at the House of Blues; for the second night, Patty was elegant and energetic, and was the life of the party. The Tragically Hip performed, and even sang Patty's favorite of their songs, Wheat Kings, a number they rarely perform in the U.S. We were given aftershow passes, but finally had to pull the plug on waiting to meet the band, because Patty ran out of steam. We were grateful to the band's management company for the tickets, but felt a bit disappointed that the band itself didn't make more of an effort to accommodate Patty. That's all the complaining I'll do, because we really did appreciate the free tickets to an expensive show.

We met several Canadians over the course of the evening, which felt a little like getting a brief glimpse of the homeland, and as such felt oddly poignant. We returned to our room, exhausted, at around 3am, and didn't budge from bed until the late morning.

Today, we took in a film, Pan's Labyrinth, the release of which I have been eagerly anticipating. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film scores a 99% "fresh" rating, one I feel it richly deserves. I was blown away, and Patty thought it was a very good film. In some ways, the movie feels like a kids' flick, except that it has some over-the-top violence; somehow, this ends up feeling like a strong and important distinguishing quality. I just love to see movies that actually make you feel like you've gained something by watching them. This, sadly, is a rare occurrence, but one we enjoyed in spades today.

I'll share some photos tomorrow. We hope all of you had a wonderful New Year's Eve, and that this year is a great one. Thank you again for everything.

Love,
Brian