I'm Home

I'm back in Halifax for the comedy festival that happens here. In it's twenty first year. When it was in it's ninth year, I was in high school. Hadn't started doing stand up yet but I KNEW that it was what I was supposed to do. KNEW it. I drove around the city at the time, wanting to go to all the shows, and thinking that ONE day I would be performing in the festival. This year is my fourth time being asked to perform here. 

I say that to say, every time I come back to Halifax I have many memories from this place. The hotel the Halifax Fest puts us up in for example. When I was 15 or 16, there was a acting convention or some such here. Basically a bunch of casting directors and agents came, charged young hopefuls money to take a look at them and tell them if they have a shot at a career or not. I wanted SO BAD to be looked at as someone who could have a career in entertainment, that I forced my mom to take me to it. After waiting for awhile, they read a list of names of people who they wanted to see more of. I was one of those names, and I literally yelled 'Yes!' I was so excited. I sat at a table with my mom talking to an agent. She said that they would need six hundred dollars to start working with me. My mom said she'd have to think about it, and we left. I was very upset. I REALLY thought this could be the start of everything. My mom refused to give me the money. So I actually dropped out of High School, got a part time job so that I could earn the money myself. By the time I had the six hundred, I decided to go back to school, and thought that this whole 'agent convention' thing was probably a big scam. 

This hotel is also next to the train station. The train station that as a kid I went through a lot. I would take the train from here to my grand parents house away. I remember a few times I would be taking the train home, and nobody came to pick me up. I would have to get a cab home. And honestly at the time we didn't have a car, so really nobody could have easily came to get me, but still. As a kid, getting off a train alone, seeing other people being picked up by family, hugging each other and being happy, it made me really sad. I dreaded that part. I thought that people were looking at me like 'No family huh? Jesus.' Nobody cared or thought that, but I felt sad every time.

I walked out of jobs here, which are some of my favourite memories. Walking out of a job is the best thing in the world. Also left a few jobs to do back ground work in movies. I left two jobs, (one that took me back), to be an extra in a movie. Being an extra in a movie is not a huge thing, but MAN, ANYTHING that I could do to be entertainment was what I was going to do. 'You want me to walk behind actors with speaking roles for 16 hours today for a hundred bucks? I'll quit a job for that. You want me to get in and out of a car in the background of a movie that I think only went to TV and I didn't even see? I'll skip three days of school for that and THEN get suspended for two more for skipping those days.' 

I remember being elbowed in the face as a kid by another kid accidentally, being sent back to class by the people in the principals office, only to be picked up by my mom who flipped out, asked where my front tooth was, SAW that it was still in my mouth but pushed back, and rushed me to the dentist, and for the next three years was in and out of the dentist office because of this. Due to the principals negligence and the idea to NOT call my mom and let her know that I was elbowed, the tooth died years later and now I have a fake one. 

I remember playing video games with my brother for days on end. Just hours of playing Diddy Kong racing, Mario Kart, WWF No Mercy, Metal Gear Solid, and a whole bunch of others. 

I remember being expelled from High School for being kicked out of a bunch of classes. I was in a play at the time that I asked if I could still do. It's was nine days away and I was told no. I was really hurt by that. Was also going to run for school president the next year, had backing from one of my teachers, who was like 'what they hell is your problem? I stood up for you, and you get expelled? Come on.' 

Lot of good times here, lots of bad ones as well. Can't help but be reminded of them when I'm home, and for both sets of memories I'm happy. 

Reasons I Liked Batman Vs Superman (Thousand Spoilers)

People are REALLY attacking this movie. People are walking out of the theatre as if they have just seen Troll 2. 

'Why did Batman have to go to Nilbog? I mean, in what REALM is it okay that Superman eats a green slime that CLEARLY is going to turn him into a goblin?! And WHY is WonderWoman turning people into trees?! For dear god sake why!' (Sidenote: Watch Troll 2 and tell me the woman who turns that kid into a tree doesn't look VAGUELY like the new Wonder Woman.'

I saw trailers for this movie a year ago and said 'Yuck. That is going to be horrendous.' I FULLY expected to see a bad movie. FULLY expected to say 'OH that was bad' but still have a good time with friends. Did that happen? NOT. EVEN. KIND. OF. I was watching this movie in shock. I kept waiting for a worse movie to start. I kept looking over at my friend with a look on my face like 'This is insane! WHAT were people talking about?'

The first trailer I saw I thought this looked bad. The second trailer, that was longer and showed Wonder Woman and Doomsday, I went 'MAN THIS THING IS GOING TO FLOP.' So I sat in the theatre, completely expecting to see a The Room and having fun with how bad it was. When THAT didn't happen, I was shocked.

To be honest, I'm not a huge fan of Superhero movies. And actually, more specifically, the Marvel ones. I liked Nolans Batman's (except Dark Knight Rises), I liked the first Avengers (which I know is Marvel). But the rest of the Marvel movies I find to be the same. So shiny. So 'written'. So many stupid jokes about nothing. So many dumb quips about explosions and fighting and trash. Avengers 2 I was like 'Hey! Is this CaddyShack!? An entire city is being carried away! Take ti god damn seriously for a minute! Especially you, Hawkeye. Your only power is you can shoot arrows well. Arrows! A rogue rock could kill you! CUT. THE. JOKES.' So with that, the list begins.

1. NO DUMB JOKES

To whoever made the decision for Batman not to make dumb bat belt jokes or for Superman to have one liners, THANK YOU! I mean, dear god, does ANYONE in Superhero movies care that things are going on? That planets are being eaten or whatever? Can SOMEONE TAKE THEIR JOB A LITTLE SERIOUSLY? I loved that the destruction of a full city had some weight to it. I mean, things are going bad in this movie. Full buildings are being destroyed. And not ONCE does Batman turn to Superman and say something 'hilarious' like 'Oh, man. That was a sandwich shop I own.' 'Not that building. That's where I have sex with all of my women.' Or Superman looking at Batman, 'That was the Daily Planet. Good thing I cleaned out my desk today.' AHHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAH! OHHHH man. SO funny. SO needed. SOOOOO GOOOD. It's awful when that happens. Let something have weight. SOMEtimes. 

2. Superman Went To Court

Are you kidding me? This was great. What are some people's complaints from the last Superman movie. Not even really complaints just dumb jokes.

'I mean, Superman saves the day sure, but he destroyed a whole city! Do you know how much that would cost to repair?!'

THIS MOVIE ADDRESS'S THAT. Is Superman REALLY that great or does the damage he cause outweigh the good that he does. The man, GOES TO COURT. SUPERMAN. Walks into a court room to defend himself against taking buildings down accidentally while saving one family. That is great. I loved in this movie that people were angry at Superman for all the destruction he's caused. Loved it. 

3. Batman Was Pissed

Loved this. The opening scene, Bruce Wayne is speeding through the city as Superman is in the sky, fighting someone and being thrown through buildings while doing it. He is thrown through Wayne Enterprises, and pieces of the building fall onto a security guard who works there. The pieces crush is legs, and Bruce Wayne holds him while looking to the sky at Superman PISSED. He's decided here that he has to stop Superman. I loved showing Superman's fight from the ground. Showing what happens to the people in the city who are not involved with this battle at all. 

4. Superman Took Doomsday To Space

Truthfully, I'm not the biggest Superman fan. He has all the powers imaginable, but his morals keep him from throwing people into the sun. I've said a bunch of times I don't know why Superman doesn't just throw these bad guys to space. And in this movie, he did! I was like 'YES. You can do this. It's a power! Take this trash to space and throw him into nothing!' And not only that, while Superman is in space, the President decides that as they don't know if they can trust Superman long term, that they are going to take this opportunity to nuke him. THEY SHOOT A NUKE AT SUPERMAN IN SPACE. Come on. This was great. 

5. The Fight Between Batman And Superman

This easily could have been a terrible part. This easily could have been a super cheesy fight. But they did it well. I thought they did a great job not making it look dumb. Superman who could easily destroy Batman, isn't using full power against him because he just wants Batman to listen to him for a minute while he explains that they need to work together. Batman, who has stolen Kryptonite and worked out HARD for this fight ain't hearing it. So while Superman is being led by rage, Batman hits him in the back with Kyrponite gas that weakens him, and Batman starts throwing haymakers. Thought this was great.

6. Superman Drove A Horn Through His Own Chest To Kill Doomsday

To kill doomsday, Superman uses a staff that Batman made that has Kryptonite in it. As he drives it into Doomsday, Doomsday stabs him in the chest with a horn on him. Does that stop Superman? Nope. He drags himself up the horn, killing himself while pushing the staff farther into Doomsday. Man. Come on. 

Just to be fair all around, some things I didn't like. Wonder Woman showing us upcoming characters from a computer drive. Wasn't a huge fan of how Jesse Eisenberg played Lex Luthor. I was hoping they would have just left Superman dead and left the explanation of him coming back for the next movie, but I get why it's done this way. 

Moving To Canada!

There are a lot of Americans saying they will move to Canada if Doctor Trump becomes Doctor of the Free World. A lot of Americans are going to get up, FINALLY get their passport, drive to Canada and lay claim. This is great news. Canada has been waiting for this day!

'You want to come over here SOLELY because you don't like who's running things? Well hell yeah! Come on in and grab a seat!'

Before Americans do move to Canada (which I believe will NEVER happen. Not even one American) there are a few things they should know about Canada if they REALLY do want to move there. 

1. You Can't Just DO That

Canada, much like America, is a country. Canada, much like America, is a country that has rules and regulations and such. You cannot simply get to the border and go 'I'm American, which means I'll stay here as long as I want.' Nope. Not how it works. You have to fill out forms. You have to pay money. You have to have a reason that you are immigrating to another country. And how long are you going to live there? For four years until the owner of Chipotle or whatever runs for President and beats the owner of Golf Courses? Canada isn't a couch.

'Is it cool if I crash here until my landlord leaves the building?'

'Yeah, sure. Couple weeks?'

'Was thinking four years.'

'.... Step into my office, sir.' 

2. We Use Kilometres And It's Better

When I was young and I heard the song 'I can't drive 55', I thought '55 isn't even fast!' I like the song, but what the hell? Was Sammy Hagar going through a school zone? Was he on a road with speed bumps? Pick it up, Sammy! Found out later it was 55 miles an hour, which IS fast, but doesn't SOUND fast. In Canada kilometres are used, not miles. On a highway, you can drive 110 km an hour. Now, what sounds like you're going faster? 110 or 55? 110! That is the answer! Every time! Get used to REALLY GOING FAST. And not buying gallons of gas, buying litres. This will be one of the many greats reasons to be in Canada. No you can't buy a handgun to stash in your glove box incase their are people listening to loud music at the gas station, but you can DRIVE 110 ON A HIGHWAY. I mean, COME ON. 

3. Fahrenheit is toast. Get ready for Celsius. 

ZERO MEANS FREEZING! ZERO! IN WHAT REALM DOES IT MAKES SENSE TO HAVE 32 BE FREEZING?! STOP THE MADNESS! And we have. Canada stopped the madness years ago. And if Americans DO move to Canada (which is not going to happen), they can stop the madness as well. 

4. It's 'Moose' no matter how many there are

Moose's, Moosey's, Moose-i-. NONE of those make sense. If you see one more, or a hundred moose, it's moose. That's it. And you WILL see moose. Everywhere. In your backyard, in the trees in the park, in the library, on the highway, in cars beside you on the highway. Moose are EVERYWHERE.

5. Canadian News Isn't Scary

If you are leaving America for Canada, be prepared for the news to get a little different. America's news is constantly 'Look out for this! Look out for that! Your food is bad! Terrorists are everywhere! Don't travel! Don't stay in your city! Don't drink your water! Don't drink other people's water! Don't look people in the eye! Don't avoid eye contact with crazy people because they take it as a sign of aggression!' Canadian news is a little bit different. You might see a top story about hockey nets on city streets, or another replay of Bautista's bat flip. There could also be some stories about some real crime, but it but it won't be run on a loop with four people continuously talking about this crime means the end of the country and world as we know it. 

6. Canada Also Speaks English

I know a lot of Americans think it's just a french party in  Canada. They think when they get there they are going to have to bring 'that english language with 'em' but we have it. English has been in Canada since it began. We also have some french speaking places, and fun fact, if you speak to ANYONE in French in Canada, they have to hand you ten dollars. So learn some of that language you hate and start a new career!

7. Not Every Single Thing In Canada Is About Race

And NO, THAT IS NOT BECAUSE CANADA DOES NOT HAVE BLACK PEOPLE.

'Ahahha, very funny. There are black people in Canada. Yeah right.'

THERE ARE BLACK PEOPLE IN CANADA.

'... Really? Okay. So how does every conversation not turn into a conversation about race then?'

IT JUST DOESN'T. NOT EVERYTHING IS ABOUT RACE. 

'Okay.... So if someone at a restaurant asks my white friend if he wants the bbq chicken special, and he says no, I can't say something like 'You don't like chicken huh? Racist.' Or if he's black and he turns down the chicken special, I can't do 'WOA, a black man turning down chicken?! That's gotta be a first!'

... PLEASE STOP. THESE JOKES ARE STUPID. YOUR FRIEND JUST DOESN'T WANT THE BBQ CHICKEN SPECIAL. PLEASE STOP THIS. 

'.... I don't think I want to move to Canada.'

I DON'T THINK YOU DO EITHER.