the happiness parade

So pretty much the legal drinking age in Quebec city is 18. So I definitely went to the pub down the street last night and got drunk. Not totally drunk, just swaying and slight blurring and a bit of lack of the ability to talk very well. So yeah I guess you would classify that as drunk, but not drunk so that I don't remember stuff. I definitely did chronicle the entire experience though so that might have been what kept me remembering everything. there's a few pages of just random writings in my journal, that examined in the light of day are pretty funny, if a little hard to translate because my writing is already bad, but with alcohol in me it's atrocious. Also, one of the reasons I got drunk is because I wanted to see if I could still write when drunk, and how exactly that affects what I write. so here's a song I wrote when I only had 1-1.5 out of 2 pints in me.

The Happiness Parade

Welcome one and all
the tightrope walker tries to say
while jerking back the tears of laughter
clowns in caricture of the queen
will entertain you for a penny
paupers, princes all the same
and if we fail to put a smile upon your face
we'll give you cotton candy entertaaaiinment
for to say

(chorus)
welcome to the happiness parade
monkeys elephants and trains
pulling into town the big band plays
the circus master flips a magic switch
and all throughout the day it never rains
it's the happiness parade

welcome one and all
to the last show of the day
there's tears aplenty if you miss it
but windmills, all the whirligigs
and the wonderful month of May
will bring you smiles all the same
and if nothing in this world can cheer you up
we'll spell you all the numbers backward, it's a gaaame see
for to say

chorus

and if the monkeys start to riot
at the mayors house we'll pay
for we're so full of glee and happiness
that any bill we're glad to foot
but to the animals we'll say
go back and bring the lion train
for if I put my head into the lions mouth
we'll earn a killing just by plaaaying
at a game

chorus

welcome one and all
to virtual reality
it's magic tricks and pick up sticks
and no one here's to blame
and no one in the town they say
and no one at the fair today
if all the children die of laughter
it's smiles killing currents of the braaaiinwaves
for to say

chorus

when the children fall
we'll gather up the people now
dancing cucaracha down the street
and hurling colored bricks through windows
we'll send them to the bars and pray
that when the day is done they'll say
"Oh happiness! Oh happiness! It is enough."
all sadness turns to gaaaiity
in this game

chorus

So it's definitely a pretty confusing a sad song, not really happy at all. Alcohol is not a happy thing and cannot make you happy. Overall I'm not sure if it was worth it, but I won't do it again anyways so there's no need to worry. Anyways, I'm off to get a souvenir from this city and then catch my train.

Quebec

So Quebec is officially an alright city in my books. the place is seriously packed with massive amounts of history and culture. This morning I arrived before sunrise and searched around the city for a place to watch the sun rise. the city was deadly quiet and there was absolutely no signs of life anywhere, I almost made it to the top of the main hill in the old city before I spotted somebody. I eventually settled on an awesome park overlooking the Saint Lawrence River (by the way, does anybody know who Saint Lawrence was? I'm curious, but don't want to do the hard work of looking it up). After the sun rose I went and had breakfast at a French restaurant called 'La Omellette' or something and then wandered the city streets. The citadel was cool I guess, but it didn't even come close to the Halifax citadel, which was pretty much awesome (but not, contrary to popular belief, impenetrable (as these blurry photos taken after closing from inside the citadel will demonstrate))

Seriously folks, I'm pretty sure the guard almost caught me... it was intense. I totally went to the Quebec parlaiment building today (which was awesome) and had a tour (which was awesome) and had lunch in the cafeteria (which was pretty good but I regret not pilfering a Quebec Parlaiment spoon) and scored a seat in question period (which was awesome even though I didn't understand a word of what was said (except for A B C, at one point, and Quebec and Quebequioua (I seriously don't know how to spell that word), in another), but I understood the basic system of parliamentary debate so that made it a lot more interesting (I still fell asleep)). I think I'm just going to put pictures of random things in here now because I can't top the wordy awesomeness of those brackets.

Quebec wall

me and the CN tower giftshop

Nuk Luk and the CN tower

Quebec parlaiment statues that look better in real life

train view in tunnel with rain

Edmonton

Halifax sunset and the next one is the view from the hotel in Toronto

Halifax

hey y'all, I'm definately in Halifax right now at the hostel international and have had many many mad adventures up to this point. back in vancouver, right when I boarded the train I met three guys (Dan, Liam, and Adam) from Victoria doing exactly the same thing as me so we've done a lot stuff together over the past few days. When we got to Toronto (which was freakin huge) we went to the hostel to get some beds (we got in at 9:30) and the hostel lady was like "yah it's all full" and then when we asked if there were any other hostels in Toronto she's like "yah, they're all full.. I phoned them all... they're all full" and we're like "oh crap". Fortunately, however, one of the other passengers (Amy the fairmont employee from jasper) had offered her floor in the royal york? in the worst case scenario. So we phoned her and definately crashed on her floor, but first had a great night on the town. the adventures have been so awesome that here I am going to transcribe some from my journal.

Saturday: 6:45 pm
-I had a small stopover (1hr) in Montreal and am just pulling out of the rail complex. Tony and Dave are in the same car and a few of the other Vancouver to Toronto people as well. Right now I'm seated next to Pascal, the first bona fide Canadian Francophone from Quebec (I'm not sure how to spell that crazy word) I've ever met. Montreal was definately pretty cool and the people were a lot more friendly, it seemed, than in Toronto. Also there were loads of crazy old buildings and sweet statues all around. i will definately have to come back here for a longer time. I did almost get lost in the mall that the train lands in though. My first thought was that I wanted to see the city so I went to get out of the mall. Unfortunately all the signs were in French and it took me ages. Then on the way back in I got hopelessly lost and actually had to ask for directions. It was fun though and I still made it back to the train station on time. The announcer just announced they're playing Ice Age 2 so I'm gonna go check that out.

also here is a definately cool song I wrote one night on the train somewhere in the middle of Canada.

Let's come in from the rain
let's fold up all our umbrellas
and curl up warm in blankets from the train
and if you ask me why I'll say
it's such a sight
yah such a sight
for sore eyes

on through the night the train rolls
in it I rest, my long respite
with a kangaroo princess and Buffalo Bill
searching for diamonds in the sky
no diamonds there, but in our eyes
and I say what a sight
what a sight for sore eyes

sunlight's long gone, we're still here
just a dark room with candlelight
and a soft song playing in my ear
and an old man digging through the years
and I say what a sight
oh I say what a sight
for sore eyes

That's about now folks because I'm off to the Citadel Hill to watch a halifax sunset on the Atlantic ocean. miss you (sortof).

Jasper

This is definately my first post since leaving, I've just stopped in Jasper and found an internet connection for 20 minutes. So far the train is pretty awesome. it's a lot slower than I thought and it took about 8 hours to get to Kamloops last night. I've met a lot of interesting people on the train because a lot of the people I'm going to be with until Toronto or even Halifax. I've taken a lot of photo's, but unfortunately I forgot to bring my usb cabnle with me into Jasper so I wont upload until probably Winnapeg. breakfast on the train was pretty decent and pretty decently priced at $6.50 for a decent plate. the sleeping was less than ideal, but you have a whole lot more room than on a bus and I'm told a whole lot more than airplanes, but I wouldn't know. also I was pleasantly surprised when the train dude person came by and gave everybody blankets and travel pillows for the duration (as well as one of those crazy sleep mask things which actually worked pretty decently last night). I'm not sure how much time I have before the train leaves so not much more. the trip is definately good for reading and writing and I'm keeping a fairly comprehensive journal that this blog pales in comparison to. it has many more details and some poetry and crazy concepts that I'm going to work off of (like the dreadlock princess or the man named butterfly) for some killer stories. anyways I must use the restrooms in this fine town. chill folks.
park ranger

Only October

Only October

The suddenness of rain
awakes me from my afternoon
my heart and mind contained
I'll step into the water soon
it calls me by my name
I follow through the open door

so beautiful yet solitary
is this what it feels like to be alone

a bitter winter chill
coniferous and candy canes
the sidewalk holds me still
to watch the passing of the sun
and swallowing my guilt
I stand in shelter from the rain

so beautiful yet solitary
is this what it feels like to be alone

blinded by the square lights
enchanting and demanding me
I'll do the waltz tonight
then turn and dance the minaret
no longer seeing their eyes
I'm dancing now just to forget

so beautiful yet solitary
is this what it feels like to be alone

red eyed lullaby

the guilty party kneels on tainted marble judges floor
and fills the bucket full of fearing for the hangman's chore
and though there's no remorse that's true another man will fall
and not by crime he stands on gallows tall , but choice is all
his head jerks back and stares oblivion in the eye

This is my red eyed lullaby
a song sung in the dead of night
because time runs out in the day
and through it all there's no respite
for the dirty dead drugged up for the fight
their bones held up by chemicals
and tucking in their spilling guts
they circle round the living ones
with all their red eyes burning up

dandelion daisy deadly lines of tempered iron
a little hand is all that reaches through the summer sun
and though the fiancee really has no reason now to die
she reasons not, but pushes said boy tripping to the side
her head hangs low and stares oblivion in the eye

a blood caked brow and bloodshot eyes enclose the bloodstained mind
though this death not glorious this life not sweet enough to find
he still thinks of her as the fever courses through his frame
o'er trench he turns and steps in faith as bullets rip his flesh
his face goes cold and stares oblivion in the eye

the cold pavement stones were receptive to the noonday sun
as all the mockers mocked in harmony the blessed one
he passed the seat of triumph undenied and sneering kings
and at the hill where death must have its fleeting victory
he raised his head and stared oblivion in the eye

vicious circle of dance

A short thing I wrote about a week before I left on my trip, but never finished the last line. I'm not sure what meaning it has outside of its original context, but it feels like it should be the... thing... that thing that you might put before the beginning of a book... I forget what it's called, but lots of good books like LotR and Haroun and the Sea of Stories have them and if I write a book about dancing I'd use it... because the whole idea of dancing is absolutely fascinating... not even joking... seriously... I mean have you even ever stopped to think about it for very long... like not even thinking about the idea of 'is dancing right or wrong', but thinking about why we dance... like seriously who was the first person to move their body in a certain way and say "this is dance because it is beautiful" or "this is dance because it feels good" or "this is dance because I'm free" or "this is dance because it's controlled movement"... this piece is about the latter approach to dance. it's an intro to something much bigger though... definatly an intro.

the vicious circle of dance
propagating with every turn
of the heel or click of the man's
shoes on the steel
floor, dashing to sand
all of the pieces of the broken hearts
gathered to watch the spectacle
of legs and lies and broken body parts