nomeansno

canada day 2005: the broken city in calgary. all canadian covers by local punk rock bands starting at 3pm and running late into the night. i called in advance to make sure that karin (my sister) was still there. she informed me that i had missed the best tunes so far: hot cars look better in the shade, the safety dance and something by honeymoon suite. we ordered beer, then waited a lOOOONg time before that beer arrived.

i always find it strange going to bars in calgary. after living ehre, growing up here and spending my adolescence here i always expect to see people i know at the bars. but no. each face is as anonymuos as the next, and when i do encounter someone they are usually the ones to recognize me and i the one who must be reminded again and again of who/what/when/where/why.

the evening hit a high point when one of the bands (nameless, all of them to me) played some nomeansno. karin went nuts. her hands to each side of her head in some parody of macauley culkin in home alone. her mouth wide open in disbelief. "i gotta get out of here!" she said, sliding awkwardly out of the booth, grabbing beer, cigarettes and lighter before heading closer to the stage. she didn't come back for the duraation of the three nomeansno songs played. and when she did come back it was all "i love nomeansno!" and "i can't believe they didn't play XXX!" and "i tried to convey how great i thought it was that they played nomeansno, but the guys just shrugged and said 'thanks...'"

but this is the song we WISH they had played (k: look up these songs: "now", "oh no! bruno!" and "two lips, one tongue and two lungs")

if i had the courage
i'd pour into a jar
all the things that i have heard you whisper in the dark
and when that jar was heavy
with your honeyed confidence
i'd put it to my lips and drink
its meaning and its sense

it has no end so let's pretend it's now
let's get started NOW!

at midnight we walked to karin's house. she cried. long history of sadness. when we got there we danced in her living room to nomeansno, joel plaskett and thrushermit until mathieu came home. he wasn't expecting us. surprise!