countdown to happening...

[Glorious Amok]

this is your one hour warning...

i am about to go meet Knip at a popular basement bar known to locals as the Lower Deck. it deserves this name rightfully because, well, it looks like the crew quarters of a salty old sea boat. it's the kind of place where people keep time to the music by banging their beer pitchers on the long tables.

every time i go there i hear a celtic interpretation of a tom petty song. and every song has a break-it-down moment in the middle where everything stops but the singing and the clapping. most will include the lyrics "earl-eye in ta moor-nang". i have seen sailors form choo-choo lines there, circle the low-ceilinged bar, and then chug their drinks in celebration of returning successfully back to their starting point.

much fiddling and jigging is about to ensue. therefore, i issue this fair warning. stay tuned ... weepy, nostalgic reflections of the encounter may follow...

[mtmynd]

Glorious... I liked that visual you just put on. Give 'em a "Yo Ho Ho and a bottle of rum!" for me, okay?

Have a good time and give Knipper a howdy from me...

[Glorious Amok]

here we are, the eastern-most faction of the canadian assembly!

let me just say this... knip's eyes are the biggest, deepest, oceans of sea stories; you really have to decide carefully which one eye to look him in because both at the same time would just consume you completely. they are like beams of blue light, jedi light sabres that pan over you, washing you with their intense brightness, full of whale-sightings and tides that ebb and flow.

when we arrived, he was there in the first seat with the most clear view of the door, and waved enormously. he introduced us around to a few of his navy friends, and we saw pictures of war ships and helicopters, natives teaching the officers traditional dances and throat singing.

we went out on the patio after the band struck up so that we could continue talking. from the patio, i heard them play my favourite song...

'farewell to nova scotia, the sea bound coast
with your mountains, dark and drear-eye be...
for when i am far away, on the briny ocean tossed,
will you ever heave a si-igh and a wish for me...'

we moved back inside, but into a private back room. we talked of papers we wanted to write, topics that needed researching. knip talked about his wife and his kids, they're all students, every one. we each told our favourite Kids In The Hall sketch. he invited KT to come stay with him in toronto, they're going to try to arrange for a big navy crew to come down and watch the new play.

he makes such an impression. he's fatherly, trustworthy, comfortable, secret-keeping. knip, when you are far away, on the briny ocean tossed, you know we will heave a si-igh and a wish for you....

[Lightning Rod]

I'm all smiles over here
It lights me up with joy to see you guys
(three of my favorite human beings)

It makes me just want to paste myself in that picture with photoshop

thanks, p-jell

[panta rhei]

i love your description of the place and the knip, and i love that photo... it shines with joy and human warmth.

thank you, kari!

[Doreen Peri]

those are three of the most beautiful faces i have ever seen in my life!

wonderful!

thank you for sharing this, K!

wish i could have been there!

tell us more! do you have more photos?

[mnaz]

Wow.......... Great pic!

And some damn fine writing. Very nice descriptions. Hey..... I'd forgotten all about 'Kids in the Hall'..... I love that show....
anyway......Maybe some day I'll venture over to that part of the world.

[knip]

aw shucks...kari knows how to get to me

we had a swell time...kari has an exuding glow that sticks to you...imagine the sticky inner walls of a beehive...that sticky

billy is an exceptional fella...smart, genuine, and real


but then, i knew this already

the internet is a cool, cool place, what with the things is lets me do and the people it lets me meet

pics of my trip to the arctic and the inuit teaching me throatsinging, drumdancing, and inuit armwrestling coming next week

[judih]

really enjoyed your visit. Thanks so much for the ambience and candour.

It's be sensational to hear about Billy's play - enjoy, knip. Keep singing, Kari

judih