Tag Archives: Partying

Hungover at a Waterfall near Vancouver

January 20, 2017 Beth Leave a comment

July, 2016

Today was a totally beautiful day. Madison and Sarah picked me up to whisk me away for a forest adventure. I was hungover, yes, but itching for a nature day. We made it to Tim Horton’s just in the nick of time before they stopped serving breakfast, for a hangover hash brown sandwich and a few cups of coffee. We hopped back in the car and were on the way to the forest. I was one happy camper.

We arrived and began our ‘quick’ walk to the waterfall. I say ‘quick’ because I am sure it was, but the heat, the hash brown sandwich, and the hangover, were not a solid combination for a walk in the woods. The shade from the trees was so welcoming. We walked to the end of the path and found a beautiful waterfall. Oh God, that rushing water made me thirsty AF. How I just wanted to be in that water. It was so clear, and a beautiful shade of green, and just so enticing! There was a deep, clear pool above the waterfall, and it looked perfect for a swim, but the water was flowing quickly, no scratch that, it was straight up rushing, so we decided we wouldn’t swim above it. Instead, we walked back down the path and found a secluded spot in the sun across the river.

Madison and I, scoping out the perfect spot

We walked through the water, set up our towels in the sun, and put on our swimmers. Then, it was into the water, the glacial water, the ice cold, glacial water. Let’s call it ‘fresh’. It was so, damn fresh! We all shrieked and giggled as we waded in. Sarah and Madison were far braver than I, and just dove under the water right away. There I stood, ice water up to my belly button, nipples ready to cut glass, shivering, like a wimp, for ages. I couldn’t bring myself to do it! That is until Sarah handed me her GoPro and told me to dive… Anything for Instagram, AMIRITE?!

We spent the rest of the day eating, chatting, and sunning ourselves. It was glorious! We filled our floaty boat with air and while Sarah napped, Madison and I went for a quick float down the creek. We hopped in the floaty boat and just laughed the whole way around the bend. I was nervous I might pee because I was laughing so hard, but I didn’t! We clambered out of the boat and the sky had turned the exact opposite colour— from blue to black— and we could see lightning in the distance over one of the mountains. It was ominous to say the least. We packed up our stuff with such speed and crossed back over the river to the path.

We reached the other side of the water, and it began to rain!!! Now, I don’t always use three exclamation points, but when I do it’s when I am talking about extreme weather. It was POURING. Within seconds, my clothes were soaked right through to my skin. I used my deflated floaty boat over my head and backpack in an attempt to keep dry. It didn’t work. Not one bit. We hiked back out through the forest, sloshing through puddles and laughing at our luck. We may have been totally and absolutely drenched, but we were laughing. Back in the car, and back to the city. The best hangover day ever.

Australasia, Travel Stories

New Years Eve in Sydney, Australia

December 30, 2016 Beth Leave a comment

December 31, 2013

Sydney, Australia

I found my way to Darling Harbour, and stopped in the King’s Brewhouse to meet up with my buddy Rob for an ice cold pint. He works this evening, so I am spending New Years on my own, but we made plans to meet up later. After midnight, I would come back to Darling Harbour, find wifi, and we would meet up.

I left the bar and began my wander over to the Sydney Opera House. Finding out there were 2.6 million people already lining the entirety of Sydney Harbour should have been the first clue: that was the last time I would see Rob today. I shuffled past millions (literally) of people, and found myself in the centre of a parking lot, turned picnic area. Over the loudspeaker I heard an announcement telling us that the section we were in was now at capacity, and nobody else is allowed in. I began to scope the area. My plan was to find an empty space among the throngs, and just sit myself down next to some nice looking people. The criteria was easy; youngish. And then I found them! Three young ladies, indiscreetly drinking wine, sitting next to a big empty space, on the other side of which, were three handsome and very tanned young men, doing an even worse job of concealing their wine! I asked the girls if I could join them, and they allowed it. We began chatting. The men on my other side realized we were all backpackers and joined our conversation. Our group was so wonderful. Two ladies from Sweden, one from Spain, a Dutch guy, two boys from France, and a Canadian!

40 minutes to go…

We all had alcohol in our bags and were all doing a laughable job of concealing it. We continued to drink and get to know each other. The conversation we had was entertaining to say the least. Someone would say something that was super witty and funny, but nobody would really laugh. So, they would have to explain what they meant. It was lovely. The five different first languages, the noise from the millions (literally) of people around us, and the irresponsible amount of wine we had all drunk up to this point, didn’t really help the conversations.

25 minutes to go…

I went to a stand nearby and bought a few light up toys. They were light up swords, and were exactly what our wine-saturated group needed. There was a little boy nearby our blanket, who was also wielding a light up sword. I challenged him to a duel. We combatted our swords like proper knights, and when he sliced my side with his light, I made a huge scene as I died. The people around us cheered and laughed. The two French guys grabbed their swords and attacked with a vengeance. The little boy sliced them, and they too, acted out excessive death scenes. The crowd around us went wild. The boy bowed, sheathed his blade, and walked back to his mom.

10 minutes to go…

The noise around us grew. The once empty spaces in the crowd had now filled up, people were almost yelling to hear each other, and I could hear a lot more drunken singing in the distance. The loudspeakers began to play music. All of a sudden, the crowd joined in the countdown, 10…9…8…7…6… I looked around at my new friends, drunkenly counting down, swaying back and forth, faces to the sky…5…4…3…2… My face began to hurt from smiling so much. Tears of joy began to well up in my eyes…1… Oh. My. God. The fireworks lit up the sky. Everywhere were fireworks. Everywhere. I looked on in amazement, and childlike joy. There were seven different points from which the fireworks were being lit. In front of me was a full 180 degrees of colour and explosions and magic. I couldn’t believe the beauty. I looked on with wonder. As the blasts echoed off the buildings behind us, and around the Harbour, the crowd burst into song. There I was, in the midst of 2.6 million people singing Auld Lang Syne.

Happy New Years, world!

Europe, Travel Stories

Celebrating Midsommer in Sweden

December 16, 2016 Beth Leave a comment

June, 2015

I arrived at Bastad station and met up with Rebecka and her friends. This weekend I would be celebrating Midsommer, a wondrous and whimsical Swedish holiday. First order of business— Midsommer crowns. Andrea, the resident florist, arrived with bushels of flowers and we all began fabricating our head attire. Fredrik’s crown was probably the most impressive, but Rebecka’s ended up being the perfect size and maybe my favourite. I was impressed with mine.

Considering it was my first time ever fastening together a bunch of flowers and creating a flowery head piece, I thought I did quite well! next was the Maypole. This quickly became my favourite part of the holiday. We erected a big, cross-shaped Maypole, and decorated it with lots of flowers and leaves. We hung big wreaths under each arm. It ended up looking a bit like an upside down penis. But it was beautiful and was fun to decorate! We covered the thing in greenery and used up all the leftover flowers.

Then, as if this holiday couldn’t get any more whimsical and wholesome, we all joined hands and danced around the Maypole. Everyone laughed and sang Swedish songs, while we all skipped around the pole. I was laughing my butt off. THEN we danced like frogs and sang a song about frogs. I love this holiday. I love this holiday so much.

And then we started drinking. I knew my friends back home would look at me sideways if I told them we danced like frogs around a penis shaped Maypole covered in flowers, and weren’t drunk.

We all gathered around the table and began dinner. Another Midsommer tradition during dinner is to drink Schnapps. The idea behind this, is that if you drink a little bit of schnapps in between servings, you will have more room for food! The schnapps are about 30-40% alcohol and only poured to about 1/3 of the shot glass. Phew! I had one and that was that. It seemed though, the more schnapps the boys drank, the louder and more frequent the singing became. Each song leads to a cheers and another little shot. Phew! These boys can drink.

Rebecka, bless her, felt bad that I didn’t know any of the songs, so she tried to teach me. She sang a line and then I repeated it. We got through the whole song and she said, “wow! You are picking it up so fast!” She clearly can’t hear what I am actually saying…

The party was in full swing. People were dancing, drinking, laughing, chatting. Then Hampus turned off the music. “It’s time for a night swim” he said. Yay!!! I grabbed a towel from the closet in the washroom, and joined the others outside. We began the walk down the steep hill. I may have been drunker than I thought, because I started singing the Indiana Jones theme song and didn’t really stop. Fredrik put his towel around his neck like a cape and I held the end out so it looked like it was blowing in the wind. We passed by the neighbour’s house and they watched us walk by. I was softly singing Indian Jones, and Fredrik walked with a towel cape around his neck.

We found the beach! It was actually harder to find than it sounds like it would be. As soon as we walked into the sand, my clothes were off. I ran alongside my friends through the sand and into the VERY cold and VERY shallow water. We ran for ages and the water never actually passed our knees. There I was, 2 am, standing knee deep in the North sea, tits out, in my undies, watching the sun rise! How beautiful is this place?! Because it was so shallow, we all ran in, and then almost immediately ran back out. I dried myself off and put my clothes back on. I joined the rest of the group for a shot of gin, and we began our ascent back to the house. The hill was steep, but it felt good to arrive at the top. I sat on the stoop at the back door for a bit and watched the sky begin changing colours. Man oh man, how beautiful. It is 4am, and the sun is on its way up. Happy Midsommer, Sweden!

Helan går sjung hopp fallerallanallanlej, helan går sjung hopp fallerallanlej

Och den som inte helan tar, den heller inte halvan får

HELAN GÅÅÅÅÅR (this is when you drink your tiny shot of pure alcohol)

SJUNG HOPP FALLERALLANLEJ

My version was about falafels

North America

At the Brewmaster Feast with National and Whistler Brewing Company

December 13, 2016 Beth Leave a comment

Living in Calgary I’ve learned many things: the incredible power of community, the strength that comes from diversity, and the absolute magic of a chinook wind. When Calgary shows us its teeth and temperatures reach below 20 degrees, Calgarians flock indoors and wait patiently for that warm wind from the west. And what better activity to partake in, while escaping the frigid cold, than a beer tasting? My good friend, Natasha and I walked into National on 8th and entered the Tap Room. What caught my eye first was the inadvertently sexual promotional video for Whistler Brewing Company being projected on a screen at the front of the room. Men pulling pints, hoses squirting water, malt and barley being poured into giant barrels— all in slow motion…

We took our seats at one of the tables, took turns trying on the Christmassy table decorations, and allowed Don, the rep for Whistler Brewing Company, to take us on a trip down memory lane and tell us about the origins of the brewery. In 1989, when the Whistler Brewing Company originated, it was one of the first craft breweries of its kind in British Columbia. They pride themselves on keeping the perfect balance of tradition and progression, and brew authentic craft beer that really speaks for itself.

The tasting began. The chefs at National on 8th took turns explaining to us what we were eating, and Natasha Pieskar, the brand manager for National, explained each food and beer pairing. The evening is a blur of decadent AF food— foie gras, bacon-wrapped paté, elk carpaccio, halibut in Dugléré sauce (whatever that means), white bean cassoulet, and that’s only half of it— and deliciously paired beers. My favourites were the Chestnut Ale, which was sweet and caramel-y; the Cashmere India Session Ale, which was citrusy and grapefruity and paired with the crab and truffle ravioli; and the Black Tusk Ale, which has an entire trophy case dedicated to it and its many national and international awards. We also learned about all the in-house prep the kitchen team at National does. House-made bacon, mustard, paté, sauces, all of it was made by this incredible team!

Natasha and I ate it all and felt like royalty. The food plates kept coming, the beers seemed bottomless, and the company around us was such fun. We sat next to Hayden and Jill, two beer connoisseurs who were just as excited as we were by the plates of food adorning our table. It was all just so delicious. Once again, the team at National wowed me and my tastebuds. Next time I am buying beer, you can bet your bottom dollar I will be walking out with a few bottles from the Whistler Brewing Company.

Thanks for the food, National, thanks for the beer WBC! And thanks for the escape from the cold, Calgary!

Europe, Travel Stories

Patio Sitting in Lisbon

September 16, 2016 Beth 3 Comments

Steph and I decided go for an adventure! We walked through the heat down to the centre. Steph confessed she had a wish for a big, cold glass of fresh lemonade. I hoped we could make it happen, but we weren’t optimistic. We took the shortcut through the metro, wandered through the streets until we found the monastery,and took the secret pathway beside it. It spit us out half way up a lookout point. We paid the €1 to walk up the stairs all the way to the top. The view was spectacular. I love climbing to the tops of things and looking out. It’s the best. We did a photo shoot and stayed up there for as long as could stand. We were both sweating alcohol out of our pores, and with nowhere for shade, we were overheating.

We walked back to Alfama to meet up with our friends. As we walked and talked, a kiosk caught my eye. LEMONADE! As if. AS IF there is lemonade! It was like a dream come true. We bought two cups and were the happiest girls in Alfama.

Processed with VSCOcam with g3 preset — Steph and I as the happiest girls in Alfama

The giant group of us (seven) wandered around the streets, searching for a dinner place. The problem with looking for a dinner place with seven, really easygoing people is that we will never find a place, because everyone’s, “easy.” As we weaved in and out of the streets, we spotted a BBQ at the end of a skinny lane. Perfect! Pateo 13 (Patio 13). We walked up and Yuri asked the man if we could sit at the free table outside. We sat down and the crazy yelling began. The waiter was talking to Yuri in Portuguese, and kept yelling sporadically at the man at the BBQ. I kept telling Yuri to order wine. He wasn’t responding to me. I talked over the yelling Portuguese, and said to Henrique, “can you order two bottles of red wine?” He didn’t react to me. Am I invisible? Rebecka and Kevin were just laughing! Everyone was yelling! It was CRAZY! I finally grabbed the waiter’s attention and said, “can we have two bottles of red wine, please?” The waiter laughed and yelled something at Yuri, who laughed along with Henrique. Holy moly! I just wanted wine. All of a sudden, we were ordering! The waiter left and I asked Yuri if he had ordered wine. He said, “don’t you worry. I would never leave you wine-less!” I smiled. Sure enough, the waiter came back with two bottles of red wine. Phew!

We had some great conversation. I don’t remember it all, but I remember laughing pretty much the entire time. Henrique said something about “cockfish” and we all laughed. He meant codfish of course, and this we all knew, but couldn’t help to laugh. The food was great, the wine went down too quickly, one bottle, two bottles, three bottles, then we left. We mostly left because the entire patio had closed down and we were being shooed by people hanging out of windows, clearly trying to sleep on this Sunday evening. Yuri knew of a little bar we could go to for more drinks. It was called Tasca, and it was here we sat outside around a table, and ordered another bottle of wine. Next thing we knew, a man came outside of the bar holding a bucket with a rope in it, attached to a stick. He placed the bucket down, held the stick in place, and began playing it like a bass. WHAT?! A man with a guitar joined him and they began playing music. I can’t believe he is playing a bucket with a rope and a stick. I don’t know when it happened, but the guitarist asked the crowd if anyone plays the melodica. Rebecka offered Kevin, the professional pianist, and his skills. The guitarist handed Kevin the melodica and we all waited with bated breath. Sure enough, Kevin rocked it. I think everyone, the musicians, the audience, and even Kevin were surprised at how good he was. “I’m salivating everywhere”, he said.

The bar closed down and we all parted ways. I fell asleep on a cloud that night in Lisbon.

A man playing a guitar and a man playing a bucket & rope!

North America

At Theatre Junction’s 8th Annual ALLEY PARTY

September 6, 2016 Beth Leave a comment

On Thursday September 1st, Theatre Junction continued the tradition, and celebrated their upcoming season with the 8th annual ALLEY PARTY. Really, is there any better way to celebrate a season of contemporary live art than with a giant dance party in a back alley in the middle of downtown Calgary? No, in fact, there is not. I like to think that on a day-to-day basis I am a pretty cool person, but walking into this party made my cool level skyrocket!

My friend, Casey and I could hear the party from a few blocks away and before we entered the theatre, we walked passed a group of onlookers watching the people dance from behind a fence. We walked into the Grand, the oldest theatre in Calgary, and marvelled at the lobby. It’s worth a visit just to see the lobby. We walked under the artfully destroyed ceiling, and the chandelier made from broken bottles lit the way through to the main hall. We ‘paid what we could’ and entered.

The main room was dark and full of sound. The DJ from Hifi spinning when we arrived had everyone grooving. Amongst the grooving were my super hip friends, Tyler, Garrett, and Chris. There was a green space set up on one end of the room, where a bean bag toss and a few games of giant Connect 4, both provided by Home & Away, were set up. Nearby was a makeshift photo booth manned by an enthusiastic photographer whose goal was to make us look even cooler than we felt. Over two separate stints in front of his camera, I think we nearly exhausted him. There was also a bar, with a healthy line of excited people, ready to support local theatre by buying a beer or two.

Brie, Tyler, Garrett, and Neil striking a killer pose.

We walked through a dark hallway and emerged in the back alley. I laughed. When Tyler invited me to a party in a back alley, I had no idea what to expect, and could never in a million years have expected this. It was all glamour and opulence set against a derelict back alley backdrop. Another DJ from Hifi was set up next to the brick wall, and the crowd was dancing all around. The music echoed and reverberated up through the buildings. Everyone was dancing. And how could they not? The beat demanded it. “The bass!!!!” Tyler exclaimed, as his body gave in. We stood in the middle of the crowd and just danced. I couldn’t help but look around at the stunning party-goers surrounding my friends and I. A smile on every face.

The scariest part about attending a party on a weeknight is that you will be out too late and be tired at work the next day. This party ended at 11pm. I love a party like this. The Hifi Club had an after party for those who couldn’t rid their bones of the beat just yet, and I applauded those people as I hailed a cab to take me home. Theatre Junction and The Hifi Club did it again. That party in that back alley is without a doubt on the list of the top ten coolest parties I have ever been to. Thanks for the invite Tyler, thanks for the music Hifi, thanks for the games Home & Away, thanks for the reason to celebrate, Theatre Junction, and thanks for the rad weeknight party, Calgary!

Asia, Travel Stories

Dancing on Pub Street in Siem Reap

August 26, 2016 Beth Leave a comment

January, 2014

Off to Pub Street. I asked my new hostel friend, Cory where it was and how far we had to walk to get there. He pointed ahead and said, “it’s just up there!” I looked, and sure enough, there was a huge, flashing, neon sign that said PUB STREET, with huge, flashing, neon arrows pointing down the road. “Oh,” I said, “you mean just there where the giant neon sign and flashing arrows is?”

I guess pub street is known for the street parties. We have heard a few different times about the dancing, the drinking, the mingling, and the general partying that does down on the street. I saw no such thing. No general partying. The street was empty! We walked down the middle of the road and found ourselves between two bars— “Angkor What?” and… another one. Standing between the two bars, my friend Emma and I found ourselves in a sweet spot of music. You know when you drive across a border and you can kind of jump from one place to the next, or straddle over two states or provinces? It was like that. But with music. One step to the left, and it was one song, one to the right, and it was a different song, with no hint of the other. I imagined what it would be like to have the ability to see sound waves. Just huge waves clashing in the middle of the street and bouncing back from whence they came, creating a sound wave wall, and two sound wave tornados. Anyway, Emma and I started dancing. I imagine we looked like rockstars as we danced. There may be a meme of us on the internet soon. First, a picture of Beyoncé that says, “how I imagine I look when I start street parties in Siem Reap” next, a picture of the two of us, unshowered, unkempt, and uninhibited dancing alone in the middle of a street- “how I actually look when I start street parties in Siem Reap.”

It wasn’t our dancing that gathered the crowd, or our devilish good looks. I’m 100% sure it was our persistence. A few songs played and we didn’t stop. A full circle of people gathered around us, mostly Chinese, smiling, clapping, and all of them filming. Woohoo YouTube sensations. Finally, a Korean man stepped into the circle. A high waisted khaki pant, tucked in polo shirt wearing, fanny pack toting, ‘if I tuck my pants into my white sweat socks it will really bring my outfit together’ Korean man. He danced and danced. It was phenomenal. After he joined, the party began. People began to copy whatever dance moves he was doing. It was like a makeshift flash mob. Epic!

After a night out back home, it’s common practice to buy a donair, McDonalds, pizza, maybe even poutine. In Cambodia, however, the western places don’t stay open. In my slightly drunken state, I bought a bag of fried and salted beetles for the equivalent of about $0.50. They weren’t actually half bad.

North America

At The Calgary Folk Music Festival

July 25, 2016 Beth Leave a comment

This past weekend, I had the total honour of being my fantastic friend, Kelsey’s plus one to the Calgary Folk Music Festival. As a sponsor of the festival, Kelsey’s employer was given passes for the whole weekend, and she generously shared with me. When I looked at the totally stacked line-up I nearly fainted. With the amount of incredible talent on the schedule, how were we going to choose which artists to see and which workshops to attend? On Thursday night, I donned my cutest festival outfit and head to the grounds.

We began at the beer garden to sit under the trees and plan our evening. We were able to see The New Pornographers, a band I have loved for years, and the last few songs of The Cave Singers, a band I had never heard before. We caught the first bit of The Dudes’ set, a band made up of four Calgarians, and finished our evening with The Tallest Man on Earth, a band from Sweden! It was during the Tallest Man on Earth that my friend said enthusiastically, “the best thing about folk fest is the nonstop killer vocal harmonies.” I agree! It was a brilliant day one of Folk Fest and I bicycled home with a giant smile on my face. Three more days of this?! Best. Weekend. Ever.

Our Friday began at the “Voice Male” workshop, featuring the Bros. Landreth, The Cave Singers, Gregory Alan Isakov, and Northern Beauties. A stage chalk full of incredibly talented and inspiring male singer/songwriters? How could we miss it? I am glad we didn’t. The songs that evolved from this workshop had me swooning and falling madly in love with the men creating this music. Once my legs became less jelly like, we wandered to the Mainstage. It was here that we saw Michael Bernard Fitzgerald, a Calgary legend, whose lyrics and music are as magical as his smile. The Bros. Landreth was on the Mainstage next. Another band I had not heard until this weekend, and my goodness, I count my lucky stars I was here to see them. Their music had my skin in goosebumps the whole set. To end the perfect day, we danced all evening to Lord Huron. I had not heard of them until I was standing in front of them, but I liked what I heard, and it was impossible not to dance!

Our Saturday began with the workshop “Do the write thing,” featuring Bobby Bare Jr., The Dudes, Foy Vance, and Bry Webb. It is so rad to see people on stage doing what they love and having a fantastic time with it. That kept us in the beer gardens for a while, where we met up with some friends, and made some new ones. The Calgary Folk Festival brings so many different people out, you never know who you might meet. It always makes me smile to see teenagers partying alongside sixty-somethings, only a few feet away from a family whose young children are also enjoying the music. With our passes, we were invited to sit in the artist lounge. It was here that I would meet Calgary meteorology legend, Darr Maqbool and his lovely wife Lynn (see? You never know who you will meet!). We chatted for a long while about the arts in Calgary and how this City is truly up and coming. Then Kelsey and I watched The Sadies from backstage. These guys know how to rock! The drummer kept spinning his drumsticks as he played— the coolest trick for us non-drummers to see— and the vocalists danced and partied like they were born to do so. José González closed off the night to a huge audience. It was a brilliant way to end a crazy and beautiful Saturday.

We arrived Sunday and caught the tail end of the workshop, “Idiom Savants,” featuring Bobby Bare Jr., Elizabeth Cook, Robbie Fulks, and Northern Beauties. I was sad we didn’t get to see more of their set, the music that emanated from the stage was just what I needed on a hangover Sunday. We found our way to the next workshop on our ‘to see’ list, “Defining Moments,” featuring Michael Bernard Fitzgerald, Amelie Patterson, Colleen Rennison, and The Weather Station. It was so lovely to hear the stories each of the artists shared about defining moments in their life. MBF told us of the first time he played at Folk Fest in Calgary and how rad it was for him, and now eight or so years later, he took the Mainstage. How cool is that?! We sat in the artist lounge for a while to soak up some much needed shade (again, hangover Sunday). Kelsey and I had a hilarious conversation about being traveling musicians with the Bros. Landreth, when they came to eat dinner at our table, and we chatted about music and then politics with Robbie Fulks and his drummer. We marvelled at the drum beats of the Krar Collective, and closed our eyes to be swept away with Cat Power. We stood in the middle of the crowd for Cat Empire, whose music had everyone up out of their lawn chairs, dancing like crazy. The weekend closed with the infamous Corb Lund and the Hurtin’ Albertans, who had everyone singing along, and craving a bit of rye whiskey.

Music festivals in general are such a crazy and whirlwind way to experience music. It is always fun to see bands you love, especially bands like The Dudes who are total Calgary legends, or an international sensation like The Tallest Man on Earth. What I loved about this weekend too, is that I had the opportunity to see bands I had never heard before. I fell in love with multiple bands while they were on stage, like The Bros. Landreth and Lord Huron. Thank you Kelsey for bringing me, thank you to all the musicians who poured their hearts out on stage, thank you to the incredible volunteers without whom the festival would not happen, and thank you to everyone I met over the course of the festival. For this island in the heart of the City, for the great music, for the Alberta blue sky, thanks Calgary!