Pub Crawling through the ghetto

I guess I forgot all about the Education Celebration Pub Crawl that took place this past Monday!!! I organized the event as a way of having a gong-show oriented send-off for all the Ed students who are scattering to various schools around BC for their practicums (myself included, of course). So the plan was to meet up at a pub near the Gorge Vale Golf club, then to head back down the Gorge toward downtown. We dressed up in white t-shirts that were gradually decorated with Sharpie pens with various levels of stupid written all over. I also rolled up my jeans to show off my sweet Canada socks that K bought for me for my b-day. There were drink specials at every stop, and when you have a group of about 25 semi-hammed University students walking down the road on a bit of an adventure, you're always going to have a good time.

About 8 of us met at the bus depot at the Uni to travel together, and met up with another 8 or 10 at the pub. After spending about half an hour there, we moved on to Stop #2, also known as my former workplace, and had a shooter or two and a beer or two before heading on to Stop #3. Stop #3 was the sketchiest place on the tour and the main competition for my former workplace. We ran into a couple of regulars from Fats who bought me a beer, and I gave the waitress shit for bailing on her shift last weekend when I was working and stranded without a waitress. I think she also bought me a drink, which made the forgetting of the incident a little easier. Stop #4 was a little more strange... strange because there were already a couple of people inside, but the door was locked when we showed up. Since we weren't in the mood to stand around and Stop #5 was waiting patiently for us up the road (and there was as a Timmy Ho's right in front of us!), we kept on truckin' and left the people who actually got IN to Stop #4 behind.

After a quick doughnut (I don't even know who bought it for me!), we arrived at #5 (which I also worked at previously) and got some more drinks. It was definitely quiet there, so after learning that one of our fellow education students was playing in a Police Cover Band downtown, off we went. I think there may have been another bus involved to get there, and we arrived in time to see Sam play. I'm not going to lie... I'm not a huge Police fan, but he did a pretty good job and their singer was pretty much a bang-on imitation.

Sam finished his set, and we decided to make one more stop. We were planning on heading to a place called Lucky Bar for 90's night, but with a lineup out to the street, we changed plans and went to a 19 year old hoochie hangout called the Boom Boom Room. It reminded me of my younger days in Lethbridge, going to a basement club there called Nexus. It wasn't much different than back home, which was kinda fun but kinda weird at the same time. I don't go out much any more, so it was fun to relive those more stupid times :)

Then I met Darth Vader. Downtown. At the "ghetto slice" 99 cent pizza joint. He tried to talk to me, but I don't speak Vader-ese, so I just sat there with a dumb grin on my face, laughing and asking him how his night was. It was pretty sweet. And just before we were going to start walking home, we found a guy from class who had been driving around for an hour trying to find us, and he gave a car-load of us a ride home.

I hit my bed after some water and some multi-vitamins and an advil, and slept like the dead until the next morning. K decided to stay at her friend's place since she didn't really want to come out and be stupid with us, which was okay. Sean stayed over and had a nap on the futon so he didn't have to drive back out to Colwood. I was a little headachey the next day, but I'm here to tell the story. It was definitely a good time.

How do you define yourself...

Is it through your location? Your job? What you do in your spare time? Who you love? What you hate?

Do you ever leave a place and wonder who you're going to be when you get to the new location? I've been wondering that over the past few days and weeks. Who am I going to be without Victoria as my backdrop? Or without the University taking up the vast majority of my time? Without being able to tell people I live "on the island"?

I think that, to a certain extent, I define myself by my surroundings. It's also as if I define myself by the people around me. Who am I without K by my side? Or without Sean to spend time with at school? Or without Sarah to keep me in check in class? Or without all those people in my life who make me smile and make me sad and have made me who I am. I wonder...

I know that a great amount of this is related to the fact that I've made a home here in Vic. And the fact that I'm leaving it for another city that I don't really know is just a little bit overwhelming. I know I'm moving on to another stage in my life.... a career and something resembling adulthood, but it's still unnerving. I'm feeling as though I found a huge part of myself out here on the coast, and now that I'm leaving, I'm not totally sure that I can just transplant that to another geographical position. Maybe it's fear... or insecurity... or just the simple fact that I really love this city. But it's uncomfortable all the same. The pictures in my apartment have been packed into boxes. So have my books. Hell, so have my shoes. And many memories. I'm leaving in 6 days and I'm not sure if I'm ready for it. It might even be apprehension about teaching... I don't have the slightest clue if I'm ready for it. This is an important career, and I think a certain amount of bravery is needed for it. Do I have it? I guess I have no choice now...

I hope students aren't like dogs and being able to smell the fear on me... if they are, I think I'm going to be in big trouble.

Maybe it's just the clouds outside my window...

- T

The end of summer school is near (random tidbits of this and that)

I only have about 2 hours of class left before I'm officially done classes at school here in Victoria. I'm still in the education program, so I don't officially get certified as a teacher and graduate with my diploma until next April or May, but I only have a couple hours of class time left before I leave the school permanently.

This summer's been a bit crazy. Between finishing my undergrad classes in April, moving to Calgary for the month of May, doing 3 months of summer school, and preparing to move my life back to the mainland, it's been a little overwhelming. I've also had the pleasure of having numerous visitors over the past couple months, and K and I have even been able to escape for a day or two here and there... not to mention working every weekend at the pub. Needless to say, I haven't had a massive amount of free time. This is starting to sound like a pity party, so I'll move on.

I was thinking the other day about one of the interesting (or wholly boring and nerdish) experiences of my teen days. I used to spend a lot of time arguing religion at an online "bulletin board", as a way of working through my own personal faith. It was a strange time, as I was at the height of my argumentative stage with my parents and I did my best to get into fights with them about the most trivial of things. But as I spent more time on the BB arguing faith and working out the major problems I saw with modern traditions in the Christian church, I came across some ideas that always made me smile. One was the Biblical story of Jacob, who was renamed "Israel", which was supposed to mean "He who wrestled with angels" after he caught a messenger angel and refused to let him leave before Jacob was blessed... they wrestled all night and finally the angel blessed him and he was renamed Israel (Gen 32.9). For a while on the board, I referred to myself as a sort of child of Jacob, and I saw my religious conflict in these terms. Later on, I encountered a man who signed off every post with a passage from Proverbs... 25:2 to be exact. Although the wording changes from translation to translation, the gist of the passage is as follows: "It is the will of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of Kings to search out an issue". I've always loved this passage, as it seems to be representative of my relatively constant questioning of faith and religion.

Enough about these random musings... I'll leave a quote from R.W. Emerson before I go, since he's just Mr. Quotable...

"There is a time in every man's education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better, for worse, as his portion; that though the wide universe is full of good, no kernal of nourishing corn can come to him but through his toil bestowed on that plot of ground which is given to him to till"
- Emerson, Essay on "Self-Reliance"

In all his convoluted wisdom, he was a bit of a self-assured optimist. I guess we can all take the advice that, at the end of the day, it's simply up to us.

- T

The meeting of deities

My job brings in a host of strange characters. Some are simply lost souls looking to drown their sorrows in a pint of lager... others are looking for just a little conversation - a touch of human contact that they may or may not be able to obtain in their day to day lives... Others simply want a casual spot to slam some shooters and chug some beer and make complete fools out of themselves... still others are simply indulging in a fun social outing. This last group is usually the easiest to serve and most enjoyable to deal with.

However, there is a whole different place for some of the other characters that come in.

So, a guy walks into the pub. I'm somewhat bored, talking baseball with one of the regulars at the bar. The guy walking in the front door has no shoes, a pair of shorts that seems to be missing the pockets, and looks like he might want to use our washroom and take off. I greet him at the door, keeping in mind the standard "No shirt, no shoes, no service" as I laugh at the fact that such a saying could possibly be true.

"How are we doing tonight?" I politely ask. He smiles and walks over.

"I'm great!" he tells me, shaking my hand. "My name's Jimmy. I just moved into the O.I. down the block."

"Nice to meet you Jimmy. It looks like you lost your shoes!"

"I know! Crazy stuff! I went to the beach and had a swim. I left my credit card and car keys and my shoes all laying on a rock while I went in. When I got back, they had disappeared! I can't even get into my car right now!"

"That's not good! Someone must've walked by and lifted them while you were in the water." I suggest.

"But there was nobody around! I was watching the beach the whole time and I didn't see a single person. It must have been a spirit that came by... took them away!" he replies.

"Uhh... huh. Weird" is all I could squeak out.

"Yep. Must'a been a god. Well I'm a god too, so it makes sense!"

Blank stare with a confused grin, from yours truly.

"Yeah," he continues, pulling out a small medallion on a leather rope around his neck, "I'm a reincarnation of Rameses III, so I'm a god too!" he explains.

Again, this is followed with a blank stare.

Then, another dishevelled individual walks through the door, also looking like he wants to use the washroom which is for paying customers only.

"Hey, I know you!" Rameses III reincarnated says to new dishevelled guy. "What's up? Where are you living these days??" he asks his friend.

"All over man... here and there" is his reply. This is never a good thing to overhear when you work in a suspiciously dodgy area of town and your boss states that you must turn away any non-customers from trying to use the bathroom.

"Can I help you?" I interrupt.

"Nope, I'm good, man. Just using the washroom."

"Actually sir, the washroom is for customers only, so I have to ask you to go somewhere else."

"Oh. Well I'm having a beer when I get out" he replies.

I can be kinda thick sometimes, but this is obviously just BS. "Sir, I'm sorry, but I can't let you use the facilities."

Disappointed, he continues to talk to Rameses III. Rameses says to him, "Just come over and stay with me! I got some booze at the house and some tunes going on. Interested?"

"Yeah, man. That sounds great!" he replies happily as they head for the door.

"Hey bartender! This guy is a god too!" Ramses III yells as he's walking out the door.

"Congrats!" I reply. "You two have a great night."

They leave, sketchy guy and his deity friend Rameses III/Jimmy arm in arm, like a absurdly strange story of kinship reunited.

I guess it can be true... fact is stranger than fiction. Particularly on the Gorge.

- T

Texts of old

For one of my education classes, we were required to compare two texts, one that was published before 1950, and another contemporary text for our subject areas. I chose a Canadian History text from 1946. Although there were the obvious differences of content and perspective, I found some interesting differences in writing styles. One section in particular made me laugh out loud, which I felt like I had to share... the text is called The Romance of Canada and was utilized in Canadian History classes 5-6 decades ago...

"The United States was growing like a young giant, striding across the continent. If the lost coloies could thus become a great nation, why could not the remaining colonies unite and build another? If they did not seek strength in union, could they avoid, in the end, being drawn under the expanding Stars and Stripes?"

Young giant striding across the continent?? That's just too good for words.

Another aside... one thing that people use as evidence that Canadians want to be American: a massive portion of the Canadian population lives within 150kms of the U.S. border. However, as Will Ferguson (author of Why I Hate Canadians, How To Be A Canadian, and Beauty Tips From Moose Jaw) would say, it was the combined threat of frostbite and manifest destiny that forced Canadians to reside within a small distance of the border. For any of you interested in looking at a hilarious tale of modern Canadian history and identity formation, look at Ferguson's books. He also wrote Canadian History For Dummies. Good material people... good material!

- T

The soon to be long drawn out goodbye

I'm just staring out the window of my apartment, a butterfly perched quietly on the flowers of the strawberry plant that is sitting on the weathered wood of my deck railing, as John Mayer's "Covered in Rain" is playing softly in the background of this momentary step away from reality.

I'm leaving in less than four weeks.

I've been in Victoria for three years now and have made myself a home among arbutus trees and magnolias and the pink of cherry blossoms that wake in the early days of spring. I've become exceedingly attached to the smell of salt in the air as I await the arrival of the morning bus on my way up to the University. I think about my trips down to the water to take in the ocean view. Watching the waves crash over my car as K and I listen to the sound of each other's breathing as the wind storm of the year passes through town, tearing away the soft sand from the beach and leaving behind the victims of it's fury... kelp and driftwood and maybe a bottle flung from a far away island.

I guess I always get just a little sentimental when I have to say goodbye to a place I've grown to love. To be honest, I was sad when I left Alberta three years ago, knowing that the huge piece of sky that hung over my head as a child will always be important to me. I make jokes about being from Alberta, mainly in good fun. But I always wonder if the people that have never seen the prairies could ever experience the sunsets and thunder storms and northern lights that I've been lucky enough to see.

The thought of saying goodbye has been making me nostalgic for experiences gone by. I still recall some moments with friends that make me smile.... J and I, in our first year of university, had spent the night talking and wondering just how we would be able to change the world. As I left her place that night, I walked outside and saw a sky filled with an electric lights show that only nature could provide. I called her from the nearby payphone and she met me to see the lights as well. Another moment was a camping trip in Waterton with a group of high school friends, where we laid down in the middle of an open space at the foot of the Rockies and simply watched the satellites passing overhead. Or watching the hawks fly over us as my family took our regular trip up to Calgary to visit my grandparents, racing down the highway watching the flat, golden world pass by. Or walking the streets of south Lethbridge with K late at night, in the early stages of our relationship, just enjoying the smell of oak trees. Or driving out to Beaver Mines for a camping trip and sitting by the fire just letting the sun go down over the mountains that surrounded us. Or fishing with my dad at that same lake, catching the only trout of the day when I was a kid and remembering that things couldn't really get much better.

For me, it's always the quiet moments that are worth remembering.

I see friends and family that I haven't seen in a long time, and wish that I could just take all of them from the various places they are... Lethbridge, Calgary, Edmonton, Victoria, Macoun... and transplant them to wherever I am. Obviously it's unrealistic, but I still think that the reasons for missing a place has little to do with the place, but has more to do with the people that shared that place with you. As I get older, I wonder what kind of footprints I'm going to leave behind in the places I've been. Will the tide will come in and wash my footprints away? The beach has a short memory.

On a separate note, that is definitely worth mentioning: My friend Meaghan is getting married today to her long-time beau Jared. Although I don't think she reads this page (or even knows about it), I'm wishing her all the best and thinking about her. I wish I could be there to share in it.

"I remember you... do you remember me too?"
- Stereo Fuse

Does anyone else feel that sometimes there's a soundtrack playing for certain moments in your life? I know that it feels like there's one playing for me...

- T

Sometimes you start to lose hope in the media

Okay, I guess it may be more than sometimes. And quite possibly, there's little hope to be had. But the more I watch certain events in the mass media, the more cynical I get about the state of the press. This may even be a specific bias toward American media outlets (and maybe even one in particular), but it's truly frustrating to see how blatantly ridiculous the "serious" and "hard-hitting" political TV shows can be.

Now, I'm sure that I've posted this link before, but it's appalling how arrogant certain media personalities can be, and every time I think about this interview on Canada, featuring Tucker Carlson and Ann Coulter on CNN, I nearly blow my top. Take a look for yourself...

http://youtube.com/watch?v=bFQs9sVvujE

This second set of clips are a little more recent, and NEED TO BE VIEWED! John Stewart was invited on to Crossfire (CNN) to talk politics, and what ended up happening was the most ridiculous attempt at spin justification that I'm aware of (of events within the border anyway... we're ignoring the censorship and spin justification that takes place when speaking of international politics). Again, Tucker Carlson makes me want to flip out. Please watch the clips... It's important.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=b0vYQDFAiy0&mode=related&search=
http://youtube.com/watch?v=q3WJGrqvqPM

This is his response on The Daily Show the following Monday.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6cVpOADoLg&NR

I know these appearences took place nearly 2 years ago, but I don't know many people who have actually seen these clips. So enjoy, respond, start watching John Stewart, anything.

- T