Canada Day in the city is a feast for those who crave stimulation. There were probably things happening all over the city, but I stayed close to home and only visited Chinatown and Prince's Island Park. I wasn't sure how long I'd last after already spending a hot day at the Millarville Races. (See Canada Day - Part 1: In the Country.)
They were already starting to shut down Centre Street Bridge for the evening fireworks when I crossed the bridge into Chinatown. Drawn by funky music, I followed the Riverwalk bike path and saw a huge familiar face on a screen perched on a corner near the Harry Hays building.
Jen Kunlire, award winning slam poet and (now) singer, was grooving onstage with parts of the band Freak Motif. It was all very funky and fun.
There were sounds coming from all over, though. And I let them move me from place to place.
The next sound drew me to a Chinatown corner where I found Shakka, the amazing human robot (kinda freaky actually) jigging to James Brown. He was soon joined by a couple of hip hop dancers and a guy with a talent with a soccer ball. All very cool.
Further along the street were a bunch of musicians, some quiet and some not so much.
After Chinatown I made my way to Prince's Island Park. Crossing the street I overheard two guys in cars chatting .
"Heh, Brother," called one boisterous African driver. "Happy Canada Day!"
The other East Indian driver, looking a little shocked, said "Hey" back.
While they waited for me to cross a quick conversation unrolled about where they were originally from and their citizenship status.
"Canada is an excellent country to be in, Brother," the African fellow exclaimed.
Had to smile.
At Prince's Island Park and Eau Claire Market I found crowds of people, of course, and lots of photo opportunities.
Much later that night I dragged myself away from editing to watch the fireworks. Here I put my camera to bed. Partially because photographing fireworks is like telling the secret of a magic trick. It's the same reason I don't do nature landscapes. The full sensory experience (smell, touch, taste) just doesn't come through in a photo. At least not yet. I bet Google is working on it. Also in short, I'm not good at that kind of photography, but it is on my "eventually learn to do" list.
Still, in an attempt to make this blog complete I trolled YouTube to find the best fireworks video and found distant fireworks near a pretty downtown skyline, close over-exposed fireworks, good fireworks with terrible music attached, and so-so fireworks. [sigh]
So instead I figure I'd add a video created by one of my heroes -- astronaut Chris Hadfield and his brother Dave and their musical video homage to Canada Day called "In Canada."
And the best part of Canada... our comedy...
Links:
- Calgary Canada Day - City of Calgary
- Canadian Citizenship Practice Test - Richmond Public Library
- History of Canada Day - Government of Canada
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