M:ST4 - FRIDAY the 3rd is PREVIEW NIGHT!

I have moved into the Stride window gallery. It's a small 15' by 8' space in downtown Calgary's Plus 15 system. From here I will set up a home base while I tour downtown doing good deeds and trying my best to make Calgary a better place. How did I get this opportunity? Well I was accepted into the Mountain Standard Time Performative Arts Festival Part 4. Wow, what a mouthful of awesome. Calgary is probably most famous for three things, 1988 Winter Olympics, The Calgary Tower and the Calgary Stampede. I would like the 4th reason to be the diverse arts and culture punctuated by the radical M:T festival. I think that would be something to strive for. So you can't argue with success for the Calgary Stampede, that's why I am going to rip off their formula a bit and make it suit my needs. While the Stampede can be a lot of fun, giving people the opportunity for people to make believe they are cowboys. I have never been all that interested with cowboys (except for Back to the Future 3). So my ten day celebration is going to embrace superhero culture and the social implications of a science fantasy based reality!!!! Cue the music, (click here for a new window, it will probably say forbidden, but click on the url and press enter and then come back to this window.) CITIZEN JUSTICE IN THE COW-TOWN OF TOMORROWS So here I am in my temporary apartment ready to head out for the night and do some good! I walk head down to 17th ave. Picking up some litter on the way (including a hub cap and 2 green leprechaun hats belonging to a local pub. I took the hub cap home, hoping to make good use of it. The hats I threw inside the bar and ran off. I couldn't have said it better myself. On 17th Ave I found a group or scientists providing a free service to the public. The introduced them selves as Doctors Thorpe and Rothenberg and their assistant Dr. Staples (Un-Photographed) They wanted to use their radio equipment to recalibrate me to 7.83 Megahurtz, which aparently is the same frequency admitted by the earth, commonly refered to as the heartbeat of the earth. (Citation needed.) For more information on this "Zero-Hour" Project click on the 13th and 14th last word in this sentence. The good doctors needed some help protecting the securing wires running to the radio tower on the roof so I was able to give them a hand and have little fun up their as well. Feeling a little peckish my new friends and I stopped by a local restaurant and bar for a bite. I had been carrying a box for Dr. Rothenberg and the bouncer gave us a hard time about it. "Who brings a a box to a happening joint?" "Who said this place was happening?" Burn... Their Yam fries were tasty. I walked back to the C-Train and caught a ride up the street to the Epcor Centre to go to sleep. When I got to the Epcor Centre there was a giant line up of people waiting to get in the entrance. I asked them what was going on their and well most of them wouldn't answer. But I got that their was a party in their somewhere. I went to the front of the line to stalk to the security guy but he was busy and some guys in the crowd were laughing saying "YOU'RE not going to get IN", "but I live here." Then they were confused and I asked if I could take a picture of the big line up and they declined but one guy said "I'll take a photo with you..." so here we are. After that I went and talked to security and he let me in right away. Take that! I get back into my space and I am exhausted. I still manage to stay up into the weee hours uploading pictures and trying to write legible sentences in this blog.

Progressive Fest!! Preview Day starts tonight!

You will believe a Man can fly...

...from Montreal to Toronto to Saskatoon to Calgary.

Before my first flight took off, I skimmed through the in flight reading material. They must of seen me coming cause they had a whole article on superhero supplies, and gave me a good reason to go to Brooklyn some time soon.

No one was sitting beside me between Montreal and Toronto, but I still didn't have enough room to follow along with the work-out channel. I think it would be neet if we exercised on planes, I'd call them Air-o-bics. Ha ha ha ha... uh. Yep.

From Toronto to Saskatoon I watched the first fifteen minutes of the pay per view Iron Man before is cut out and I took a nap. Waking up to see the most extraordinary thing!!!

Ha ha, no I'm kidding. I just kept imagining someone flying over the amazing Canadian landscape. What a beautiful country. If that someone was me, I'd use the spare leg room to fly around and do Air-oh-bics.

Oh... yeah no I was building up to something there... The most extraordinary thing!!! A full circle rainbow!!! Well it might not be that amazing, but I thought it was neat. I kept trying to figure out how the optical effect was created but eventually gave up. I think they might call this a "sundog" but I don't know maybe it was a dimly lit Foofighter Or a treadmill for Leprechauns.

SPeaking of awesome things. I stopped in Saskatoon for a couple of days to visit family and meet my nephew for the first time. Adorable.

Even more so compared to this poor Jose Mestre, ho I watched a special on during my final flight to Calgary. It was called "the Man with no Face."

Finally I made it back to Calgary, landing at light speed like Dave in 2001. I wonder what Space baby like powers await me in this confusing and perhaps abstract end to a story...

CAT-BURGLARS!

Last week I was walking down St. Viateur in Montreal. A hand written letter stapled to a telephone pole caught my eye. The news was shocking, it was a warning to be on the look out for for a white van traveling the alleys of the mile end by night cat-napping cats. That is too say, stealling cats, not pulling over for a quick nap. (Although that is a safe driving technique I suggest for drowsy drivers.)

I went back the next day to take a picture and to my surprise it was gone! I quickly looked around the curb and gutter of the street for any remnants of torn piece of paper. The street was uncharacteristically litter free. Just then a white van ripped by! I photographed the van and it's license plate. Was the missing poster condemning white vans related to the sudden appearance of the white van? Urg... I may never know.

I found a second posting of the warning near "the mountain" and this time I got a picture. Here, have a read: Now I see white vans every where but none have a conclusive evidence of wrong doing.

That night I left the apartment at about 1:30pm. I made sure my cat was secured inside before jumping the wire fence in to the alley. I slink in and out of the darkness between street lights. The glowing eyes of cats can be seen in almost every yard. If I were these Cat-stealing jerks, I'd be hitting the Jack pot. A motion light comes on and I jump a little, then I move on. I feel self-conscious. What if someone thinks I'm the Cat-Burglar? I feel more relaxed knowing there is know one else around. Except cats! and their creepy eyes! Relax you feline bastards I'm on your side.

I return home about half and hour later. Nothing to report. Mystery Unsolved. Who are these Kitty Thieves? What do the do with those Cats? Who is posting these warning signs?