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I don’t write much anymore (given that this is the second thing I’ve posted this year), but I’ve been immersed in the Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo for the last month. The show wrapped up yesterday, and keeping with the tradition of writing at least a few words about the show, here are my memories of this year’s spectacle and my involvement therein.

• I was disappointed on finding out that the Queen would not be attending. While I’m not necessarily a fan of the monarchy (growing up in a country where it didn’t mean as much as it once did), I am a big fan of celebrity, and the Queen is one of the most famous people in the world. Not that I ended up going out of my way to see her while she was here, but still.
• Finding out that this would be the Kemps’ last year being directly involved with the choir was a big thing… While I don’t know them as well as many, they’ve left their mark on the choir and the Tattoo, and will definitely be missed.
• Initially not thinking we’d have much to do, then getting more music, and more music, and more music…
• Nothing new at the old MC, really… It’s the same gig year after year, hurry up and wait, just with different music to sing, and different people to pass the rehearsals with. It’s always fun to chat with the “Tattoo Virgins” who are experiencing it all for the first time.
• Flow of the show had a bit of a different feel this year… Extensive singing and dancing in the opening; pipes and drums not being introduced in the same old way; obstacle course in the 2nd act… It’s nice to freshen things up from time to time
• Sitting down for most of the show, and then getting a new stage configuration the day before the show? WTF!
• A plane accident delayed the parade? Really? Oh well, we still cranked out the Canada Day concert at the Citadel (albeit a shortened version)

And then from the show nights themselves, things I will remember;

• Parking adjacent to Citadel High every night (no tickets this year!), and running to the Metro Centre on most nights. My stamina is better now, but MAN does that work up a sweat!
• Never made the 6:30 call time (occasionally rolling in well after 7), but I also never missed a scene.
• As we got on stage in our new configuration for the first time during the pre-show, Steve and I met in the middle of the back row. We both looked forward, and, to his astonishment, the mic was (as he put it) “in his mouth”, and he blurted out “What the hell?” right into said mic (which was off at the time, fortunately). I had to try my best to not laugh for the next five minutes.
• Half-time hooch. Come hell or high-water, we got ‘er done every night, keeping the tradition alive since (apparently) 1989. Especially on the night of the El Dorado.
• If Ashelin ever makes the big time, I can say I got loaded right behind them.
• Cindy (from the wardrobe dept, a friend of Melissa’s since way back) came to find me on before one of the early shows. I wasn’t there yet, but she was met by Donna at the door, with a stern “You’re not Melissa!” Oh, the Posse, always looking out for me.
• Crazy young sopranos
• Crazier old basses
• I can’t make a french braid. One of these days, though.
• Ian’s war stories. I only heard one or two of them, and it was only on one night, but it was pretty amazing. No I don’t remember the details, and even if I did I couldn’t do it justice.
• Wearing Dad’s clip-on bow-tie yet again, and ensuring that I stuck around at the end of Act I to clap out of respect for those who served, to honour his memory
• I’m not winning the 50/50, regardless of whether or not I buy a ticket, and regardless of how good the odds are (you can’t beat em!)
• Food at the MC is too expensive
• This year had some of the best smoke/fog effects I’ve seen. On some nights, the smoke stayed on the floor instead of rising up into our faces
• I always looked forward to Coleen’s emails after each show
• Emilia coming to the Grand Parade for the Festival show on the 5th
• The Keg for my wedding anniversary dinner on the 5th (missed that show)
• I missed Milk and Cookies night too, along with Greg’s official Posse induction
• Conversations of varying length but always of some impact with Kelli, Teresa, Heather, Donna, Art, Ed, Greg, Adrienne, Emma, Ches, Maike, Carlee, Allison, Luke, Catherine, Catherine, and Catherine. I learned a lot of different things about a lot of different people, and I hope some of you learned a thing or two about me (that didn’t necessarily involve my kid).
• Apparently, the Frenchmen are either a) short and have bad BO, or b) smell delightfully “woodsy”, depending on who you ask (although, Carlee met some Frenchmen at last night’s bash who may or may not have altered her opinion of them, I didn’t get details )
• Maike makes awesome cookies and brownies. I assume her culinary skills go well beyond what I’ve tried, but I’m just going with what I know
• Bill Eberts always acknowledged the choir on his way out during the Act II Finale in some way. Oddly enough it made me feel more important, even though I’m 1/100th of the choir and I’ve only spoken to Bill once, a few years ago.
• UFC 116 at the cast party? Hells yeah.
• Guy passed out at the cast party, allowing everyone and their dog to pose for pictures? Good times. He’s lucky nobody drew on him
• Sitting in the sand at Crystal Crescent Beach at 3AM with Catherine, Allison, and Luke, trying to find constellations and figure out why people would want to fly kites at night
• Racing Steve to the centre-stage mic during the load.
• Mullet wigs don’t look good on anyone.
• Spending the Act II Finale with the sopranos during the final performance. My ears are still ringing. I could NEVER have thrown them off!
• Pictures of bums, and pipers, but not pipers’ bums
• I apparently am unable to dress myself
• Crispy Crunches
• The long walk to the bathrooms in the Marriott hotel, made difficult by inaccessible pedways at 2AM
• The Dambusters encore

This was my sixth show, and definitely not my last. The show hasn’t changed much. The music is still great, but exactly what *I* do is inconsequential… It’s that feeling of being a part of something that means so much to so many that is very rewarding. When the audience applauds the Tattoo cast, I know they aren’t applauding me, but I’m honoured to be a small part of what made their evening enjoyable, even if my presence was not explicitly noticed (tall guy with black hair in the middle of the back row of the choir? check).

My mindset for being in the choir has always been to not take anything too seriously. While I’m not advocating sloppy stage composure and off-key singing, I don’t sweat the little things. Rehearsals may be crazy, but come show time everything will be OK. If something goes wrong, there’s no need to complain, because that’s all a part of the experience, and you can reminisce about it later on at the bar or in online forums (fora? fori? forices?).

Most importantly, I love the choir mechanics. It’s like a big family! There’s squabbling, in-fighting, criticizing, reprimanding, but these are complemented by love, respect, friendship, and loyalty. Taking all of this in is a part of the Tattoo experience, and it really doesn’t matter what we do, what matters is that we do it together, and try to have as much fun while we’re doing it.

The Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo Cast Experience. I get it. Hopefully I’ll get to see some of you throughout the year, and to the others, see you in 2011 (or 2012, depending on how the new baby is next year)!

(for anyone reading this who hasn’t seen this site before, I have pictures and stuff from most of the old Tattoos I was in, as far back as 2005. Feel free to pass this around and to comment on it. If you want to insult me and rip up my shit, remember that I will have wasted your time twice: the time it took to read this, and the time it took you to respond, so regardless of what you have to say, I win)

That was quick, wasn’t it? No sooner did the Tattoo start, it was over. As usually, I’m a little sad to see it go, but because I’m working during the day it’s not as all-consuming for me as it was in the early year. Melissa is glad that I’m home in the evenings, though, and it’s good to see Emilia again for more than 1 hour at a time.

By and large, it was a good show for the choir… The music was wonderful, to be sure… My favorite scene this year was easily the “Band of Brothers” scene (the NATO anniversary/Highway of Heroes military tribute), mainly because we had a pronounced presence, and also because it was the only scene to give me chills every night (the pipes usually do too, but that wears off after the first few nights). As for least favorite, I’d have to go with the “Songs to Remember” scene with “Somewhere Out There”, which required us to sing ridiculously high notes that effectively served to accent the soloists’ performance. Generally speaking, though, the good outweighed the bad mediocre, as it usually does in this sort of thing.

The last night was DEFINITELY a night of surprises, with some as-yet unseen faces popping up all over the place (particularly in the choir, where we had at least two “honorary members” - one of the Middlesex County Volunteers Fifes & Drums girls in our alto section, as well as one of our stage assistants, who is an interesting story in and of himself: a member of a Swiss group that was in the Tattoo in the past, he came over from Switzerland on his own dime to volunteer in the show this year. The show graciously took care of his room & board). Some people were concerned about the whole H1N1 thing, but as usual it was the media and other nervous nellies that blew the whole thing out of proportion (although I did hear one person was denied access on their flight back to Europe, I don’t know how true that is).

The parties were thin this year for me… Once to Boomer’s for the Piper party, then at the Fleet club for the Cast party, and finally at the Dome for the Wrap party ($2.50 beers? Check. On the dance floor for over one hour straight? Check. Skankalicious riff-raff being allowed in after 1AM? Double-check and Lysol-wiped). Maybe I’m getting old, or perhaps it’s that maybe I just don’t need the partying as much as I did back in the day. Who’s to say? The main thing is that I enjoyed myself.

All in all, it was good times. Thanks to my cronies in the choir (my flanks Greg and Alan, the Half-Time Hooch crew, the Posse, Luke and Catherine, the boys in the back, the Old Guard, all those crazy young girls, and of course Walter, Valda, Coleen and the rest of the choir wranglers) for making this year’s show one for the ages. Hopefully we’ll see each other again before 2010 (or 2011)!

Oh yeah… No pictures yet this year, but I’ve linked to some YouTube videos. I really hope nobody complains about these being on YouTube because there are TONS of them, and they make for great grassroots promotional material, as well as souvenirs for those who went to or were in the show (and who really couldn’t see it properly).

Read the rest…

Tattoo time again, folks. That time of year when Melissa becomes a Tattoo Widow (and Emilia a Tattoo Orphan) while Daddy goes off to the Metro Centre for a week to sing for a few minutes and frak around for a few hours. The main difference this year is that I’m not taking any pictures since our camera’s on the fritz.

Unlike past years, I’m not writing about everything, mainly because I don’t have the time. Mom and Melissa’s only complaint about the show was that there weren’t really any kid-oriented or straight-out comedy acts to keep the young’uns entertained in between the bands and gymnasts. What’s there is good, though, especially if you like bands, and pipes, and more bands. The choir is singing some Robbie Burns, some Beethoven, and… Michael Kamen? An eclectic mix, I suppose… Choir’s a good size, too, with lots of new faces, which is always cool. Good seeing my old choir buddies again and having long conversations about everything from the myth of talent to poop.

Is it different this year? I think so, but then again it’s different every year, all while managing to stay the same… It never really gets old, though, despite the fact that I don’t have the urge to go out dancing every night like back in the first few years. I’ll keep on doing it until I’m old and gray. Or at least until we have another kid and it’s too much for Mommy to bear to be home alone for a week with two balls of energy.

Oh yeah, a special “hi” goes out to our friends Mark & Cindy’s daughter Laura, who is the “girl in the front” of the wedge of girls-in-white-dresses-with-”candles” in the middle of the military tribute scene at the end of act 1. I’d go backstage and say hi in person if it didn’t come across as very creepy.

It’s that time of year again, when a bunch of unruly singers congregate in the bowels of the Dalhousie Arts Centre, and later on in the Halifax Metro Centre, to be a part of the Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo (2008 Edition!!~!). A good time will be had by all, indeed.

This year, I won’t be there, but that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t! The choir is on the lookout for new members in all vocal ranges, so if you’re interested, let me know and I’ll tell you who to contact, or failing that, you can just show up at the Dalhousie Arts Centre (where the Cohn is) in the basement, at around 6PM on Sunday, May 25th. If anyone can confirm this for me that’d be great (I’m just going by how it usually is).

I didn’t take many pictures at the Tattoo this year, so here are some pictures taken by Heather Boutilier. They include some shots from the Choir Picnic (really, the Posse Picnic with a few other people), as well as from the concert with the Norwegian band (I wasn’t there for that one).

Also, a bit of video!

• A pipe band practicing
• The view from where I stand
• A toast for Milk and Cookies
• Spinning Choristers

This year’s edition of the Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo has finally come to a close, taking with it one last victim: my voice. I missed Saturday’s show because I had quite the scratchy throat, yet I went to yesterday’s show anyway. The show itself was fine, with the glaring exception of one of the bands being a half-beat off for the intro to the O Canada!. Last night was the Cast Party, which was lots of crazy, pimpin’ fun with most of my Tattoo friends. And then it was all over. As quickly as it began for me back in May, it’s done for another year.

Well, two years, for me… I probably won’t be doing the Tattoo next year, as Tattoo Widowhood has proven too hard on wifey so I thought I’d give her a year of respite. Or torture, or something like that.

Anyway, here are my Tattoo pictures! I have some video I’ll be posting here soon as well, keep an eye out for that, and probably more pictures if anyone sends them to me (of course, if you want more pictures, Facebook yadda yadda, I don’t care).

This year’s Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo is finally starting to come together. We spent this weekend rehearsing the opening sequence and the “A Night at the Opera” sequence, definitely having more success with the former than with the latter (in my eyes). I’m sure we’ll have it all figured out by showtime. I’m trying to shoot some video of some of the sequences, and I’ll put it up when I get the chance (I do feel a little self-conscious with my camera on stage, though…).

Also, since they wanted us there for THE ENTIRE WEEKEND, the Tattoo was nice enough to give the choir $9 meal vouchers for both Saturday and Sunday. Our dining experiences on these nights differed vastly. Saturday brought us to the Candy Apple (where the Apple Barrel used to be). Their niche is “breakfast-cereal based dishes” (very odd, indeed; certainly catering to the late-night, messed up on mushrooms crowd), but they had a little “Tattoo menu” (where our vouchers would pay for an entire “meal”). We were unanimously underwhelmed: the Chicken Fettuccine (which I had) was bland and dry, and the fellow with us who ate the fish and chips only had two bites of it, only to become considerably ill later on in the evening. Sunday, we went to the Alehouse. Ever since having a Philly Beef Dip over at Rogue’s Roost, I’ve been trying to find one somewhere in town that was as good, and had not been successful, until last night at the Alehouse: a greasy baguette covered in beef, cheese, peppers, cheese, mushrooms, onions, grease, and more cheese for good measure. We had a great time at the Alehouse, even though we thoroughly confused our server by chatting with her while she was taking our orders, leading to profuse apologies (on her part) after she messed up several orders (in her defense, there were 10 of us at the table). I will go there again. Candy Apple, not so likely.

Bad pun of the show (so far):
Me (relating a headline I’d seen on fark.com): “Did you hear about this guy who attacked a bear with a log? (I didn’t know bears were arming themselves with logs these days)”
Art Finbow (going for the math pun): “Was it a base-10 log?”
Me: “No, it was a natural log.”

When Tom Petty said “The waiting is the hardest part,” I don’t think he had Nova Scotia Tattoo rehearsals in mind, but the people who make the show what it is know exactly what he meant by it. For the last few nights, we’ve probably spent close to 8 hours at the Metro Centre, and we’ve been on stage for all of about 30-45 minutes. It’s always “production meeting” this, and “band” that, and we, the choir, are left waiting in the wings, sitting on our hands, trying to learn our music properly and to figure out what the words to our pieces are (”made”, no, “meant”!) As fun as sitting around chatting in the Metro Centre is, I often wish the rehearsals were more exciting. Of course, they are what you make of them.

Waiting aside, though, Tattoo is just as fun as always. Lots of familiar faces, (surprisingly) lots of new faces, a few missing old faces (although a lot of sopranos came in over the last week and a half, most of them standing directly in front of me, which is cool because they drown out some of the apparently “off-key” sopranos… They could have spread the powerhouses out a bit more to control the rest of the choir, but then again, its all about height), and I’ll undoubtedly have pictures soon (I’ll bring my camera on Saturday).

I’m still a high Google result for Nova Scotia Tattoo, and I’m doing a bit of my part by reporting on some of the “behind-the-scenes” goings-on. If anyone from the Tattoo choir reads this, drop me a line!! If there’s a Tattoo Facebook group, let them know about me! (no Crackbook for me yet!)

Lots of stuff going on these last few days (to say the least). Among the things going on for me is the Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo, of which I am a chorister once again (for the fourth consecutive year, although probably not next year, as the Tattoo Widow has just about had it).

They’re keeping us very busy this time around, getting to sing a bit of opera in Italian (when I found out out the opera piece was entitled “A Night at the Opera”, I was hoping for some Bohemian Rhapsody, but alas), in Phlegmish (correct spelling? ), Norwegian, German, Dutch, more German, French, Scottish (wi’ my cromack and all that), and a bit of English thrown in there for good measure. Tonight, the Tattoo wranglers were busy trying to get us to learn our cues, and to teach the band their cues, and it was all a big mess, but we enjoyed our “hurry up and wait” time. We’d better get our act together soon because we only have, umm, two weeks before show time? Really? They’re pushing us pretty hard for two weeks to go… They must not have a very high opinion of their volunteers! Maybe if they paid us…

The Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo is coming again! The choir practices are starting again soon! Sunday, May 27th, at 7PM in room 121 (or is it 120? I can never remember) of the Dalhousie Arts Centre!! This year’s apparently gonna be intense for the choir, as we’re a part of a couple of big numbers (again, apparently). This year’s show might have a bit of an operatic tinge as well, as it will feature a performance by Measha Brueggergosman. Solid.

Of course, I’ll be missing the first rehearsal, since I’ll be on the way to California, but whatever. I’ll be there for the next one, though!

Yesterday night I took part in a Remembrance Day concert that was held at the Faith Tabernacle Church on Windsor Street. In honour of the War Brides theme that has permeated many Remembrance Day services this year, the concert featured music from the era (obviously), intercut with little skits of soldiers meeting women over in England. Due to the casting of the skits, many of the scenes were unintentionally funny; nevertheless, the music performances (by the Faith Tabernacle Choir, the “Just Four Tonight” Barbershop Quartet, and the Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo Choir (that’s us)) went very well and were well received. I was glad to see such an excellent turn-out for the event, as the church was filled to near capacity.

I can never stress enough how important it is to remember those who fought in the wars. As I’ve mentioned before, one of my mom’s uncles died in France, while another of her uncles and at least one of my dad’s uncles served during the war as well (Dad’s uncle Joe was actually wounded during the war, and I believe he kept either some shrapnel or a bullet in him for the rest of his life). It’s disappointing that in today’s world is giving our future generations more reasons to commemorate war dead on a regular basis, but such is, I suppose.

I’m also going to take this chance to promote another concert I’m involved in: the Jubilate Singers will be performing their Eighteenth Annual Festival of Carols at St. Mark’s United Church on Gottingen St. on December the 10th at 7PM (arrive at 6PM, Concert Dress). Admission is $12 ($10 for students and seniors) and proceeds go to support the Posse Drinking Fund Ward 5 Community Centre Food Bank Drive Thing (not the official name). The choir sounds great, the music will be awesome, so come on out!

The 2006 Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo came to a close today, and as far as I can fathom, a good time was had by all, except for maybe Jen, who had her nose broken in what had to be considered a fairly innocuous incident at the end of the Friday evening show, which caused her to miss the Saturday last show.

Our last show was a bittersweet one, in that Cmdr Jack McGuire conducted the Massed Bands for the final time in Tattoo history (although he’ll keep on doing musical arrangements for the show). It’s not that you can blame him, he IS in his eighties after all (actually, his health is not his reason for leaving the show… I believe he is leaving to take care of his wife, a far more noble course of action than sticking around with us hose-heads).

All in all, the show was a positive experience for me. I missed two nights (anniversary, and visitors from Montreal), and showed up JUST on time for every other show, parking in no-parking spots every night and (fortunately) not getting any tickets (Parc and Dare, anyone?). I had lots of fun, went out a few times, and escaped relatively injury-free, with a couple of free pizzas from the cast party to show for it.

And to those of you who DIDN’T go to the cast party, you didn’t miss a whole lot. The music was standard downtown fare (i.e., kerr-app), there was lots of free beer (if you bought beer, you’re a fool), the aforementioned pizza (Posse members took home a grand total of 7 entire pizzas), and apparently some full frontal nudity (I missed this, but it was male nudity so I’m not concerned). I will say this, though, that with all due respect to the wife, the dancers from Estonia were SMOKING HOT.

On that note, I cease writing about the Tattoo for another year. Also on that note, pictures!! Most are Posse/Choir related; if you see faces and can name them (properly, mind), let me know so I can fill in the blanks (I’m amazed at how few names I got, especially of the ladies). If I ever get the milk-and-cookies night pictures, I’ll post them here too. Tasha, I’m talking to you!!

Crazy couple of nights at the Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo… On Monday, some members of the choir (henceforth referred to as “The Posse”) partook in what has become known as Milk and Cookies Night. And a lot of milk and cookies were consumed, and we all felt ill afterwards. Well, I did. Last night, we deviated from the norm and sang The Star-Spangled Banner in honour of July 4th. I’d never actually sung it before yesterday, fortunately I already knew all the words. Of course, I don’t know why all the fuss about singing it in Spanish… After all, doesn’t it start “Jose can you see?”

The night ended for us at Cheers (as it often does) where a good number of us (accompanied by David Bourque) sang along to the tunes that the cover band was playing and generally acted like fools. Steve was presented with the “Best Dancer” award for the second consecutive year, and we all applaud his dancing prowess. Eh! Steve!!

These past few weeks, busy would be an understatement. Last year I had enough time to write about every single show I did in the Tattoo, but this year I haven’t written a single thing. This year’s show started on Friday (Mom came down, she enjoyed the show, and we kept her busy on Canada Day), and runs until Saturday the 8th, and I’ll probably do most of the shows.

The flow of the shows is very similar from night to night: we go on stage, we sing a bit of Figaro in Italian for the fanfare and then there’s a bunch of aahing, and then we accompany some pipes. After that comes a whole lot of waiting, which I’ve managed to fill by talking to various people I didn’t talk to before, and learning lots of weird and wonderful things. Next comes the Tribute to Great Britain, where we sing (among other things) Macho Man Randy Savage’s theme song. After that is Intermission (along with the half-time hooch), and then the rest of the show is a blur because we’re up, we’re down, we’re around, and I’m generally sore at the end of it all. Nevertheless, it’s an assload of fun, and I wouldn’t trade it in for the world. Except on those days that I have more important things to do, like this coming Wednesday.

I know we’ve been up to other stuff lately, and some of that I’ll talk about in the upcoming days. Tonight, Melissa and I went to dinner with a whole mess of choir types, and we had a great time. I took a few pictures, which I present for your perusal (as always, larger versions are available on request).

Tattoo rehearsals are in full swing again.  I missed a few when I was in Montreal (I had my music with me, and I practiced on the plane), but now they’re just about every night and Melissa has once again become the Tattoo Widow.  Except for the night of the 5th, our anniversary, which I’m going to take off so as to avoid any further lambasting from my fellow choir members on how much of an inconsiderate jerk I can be.

We aren’t doing much in the way of music this year.  Lots of AHHing and OOOing, and a bit of singing thrown in.  We’re doing a Tribute to Great Britain (Land of Hope and Glory, Rule Brittannia, and William Blake’s Jerusalem, which always reminds me of the Python skit (And did those teeth…)), and we’re singing to some more pipe and band music that I can’t remember at 11:30PM.  I’m also in a small choir humming an arrangement of Ashokan Farewell against a violin lead (we couldn’t sing consistently, so we’re stuck humming), which is fun.  We’re also singing national anthems from Oman and Estonia, which are interesting to say the least (I find the Oman anthem reminds me of La Marseillaise).  I’ll no doubt have pictures and video in the coming weeks.

An article in this morning’s Chronicle Herald suggests that the Tattoo adding the word “Royal” to its monicker is a very big thing indeed.  Apparently it’s the only Tattoo in the world that has that designation.  Which means what?  Will the Queen come see it?  Will we get More Government Funding?  (like I mentioned before, they keep the Lt. Governor on the payroll, so why not send some of that love the Tattoo’s way?)  They apparently don’t know what it really means.  Not unlike the British monarchy’s relevance in today’s society, I suppose.

Also kind of neat that the Tattoo now has its own tartan (also in the article, and on the Tattoo website).  I’m surprised that the Tattoo didn’t have its own tartan before now; it’s been around long enough.

It’s that time of year again, when the Nova Scotia Tattoo Choir has its rehearsals. They start on Sunday evening (May 28th) at 6:00PM, with new choir members welcomed to audition (if you can sing, you’re in; this ain’t no Idol show) at 5:30PM, in room 121 of the Dalhousie Arts Centre (”the basement”). Come on out, it’s a great time. More information can be found on the Tattoo website. The show is running from July 1st to 8th this year (great seats always available!!), and I recommend to any Haligonians who haven’t seen the show that you should go this year, because with the way funding’s been these last few years and with rumours abounding, you never know when the current year’s show will be the last.

Interestingly enough, they’ve changed the name of the show to The Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo. Don’t know what that implies, exactly… Maybe we’re getting some money funnelled from the Lt-Governor fund.

Due to popular demand (i.e., many Google hits to that effect), I’m posting an additional batch of Nova Scotia International Tattoo 2005 pictures. These pictures are courtesy of Erica Nielsen and her mad photographic skillz. Hope you enjoy them!

On my last night at Tattoo, I decided to venture into the bowels of the Metro Centre for a little while to see how things work there. It’s a whole other world filled with life, a nervous energy and anticipation in the air that’s truly palpable. There are all types down there, from young gymnasts to older pipers, and everything in between. People are selling stuff, trying to make an extra dollar here and there, to make their trip worthwhile (very true of the Russians). The German Drill Team is VERY tall, I don’t think any of them is shorter than 6′2″. It all, it was very chaotic down there, compared to the relative order that exists topside, but it’s a controlled chaos, which makes it all the more interesting. I didn’t bring my camera down there, because I thought it might seem a little invasive and almost voyeuristic, like they were some sort of freakshow or I was a scientist studying their behavioural patterns. I only went to observe.

The show itself was great tonight… I felt more aware of the music… I sang stronger and more assuredly than I had all week, not that anyone really noticed, but I did. The music flowed through me, through every fibre of my being, and it made me feel alive. It’s a wonderful feeling.

I was also aware of the friends that I’ve made there, probably because I’ve a feeling that I won’t see most of them again for a while, if at all. For me, the Tattoo exists as a microcosm, a self-contained reality that exists only for a short time before being extinguished, before everyone disappears from whence they came and it’s like I never met them. Maybe it’s for the best that Tattoo friends stay at Tattoo, while reality kicks back in.

My night ended with a few hours dancing at Schooner’s (formerly Boomers, but they really haven’t found their “Nova Scotian” atmosphere yet. To be honest, I thought the place sucked, and I hope they close). Steve was truly playing the part of the “dancing machine”, and was rewarded for his efforts with a pair of flip flops.

In any event, I’ve really enjoyed writing about the Tattoo this year, almost as much as I’ve enjoyed singing in it. Will I be in the Tattoo next year? Only time will tell, I suppose. My best wishes go to the people I hung around with: Josh and Jen, Dan and Erica, Paul, Mike, and Tim (my “on-stage flanks”), Laura from QVS, the Posse (who’re probably still at the freakin’ bar, it only being 2:15AM), Valda and Walter Kemp, and everyone else with whom I shared a few moments of laughs, song or conversation. You’ve all helped make this Tattoo a memorable one for me, one that I likely will never forget.

We’re really in the home stretch now, going into our last few performances, and many people are starting to show wear, in their faces, in their voices, and occasionally in their disposition. Dan and Erica both bailed at the half-way point of the show (lightweights!), and Jen didn’t even come out. Too bad, because they missed a mean game of cribbage, tortilla goodness, and some sweet, sweet death-sugar-brownies that, in my words, “go straight to your ass”.

Before the show, the choir made the German bandleader (whose name escapes me) an honorary member of the choir, and he in turn presented the choir with a token of their appreciation: a piece of the Berlin Wall (to many oohs and ahhs). In addition to our regular set of anthems last night, we also played God Save The Queen in tribute to the tragedy that befell London yesterday morning. I also finally managed to catch a bit of the German Drill Team, which is very precise and impressive in their weaponly accuracy. In other act news, word has it that the Kenyan act is starting to get a little shaky, but that’s understandable given how hard they have to work over so many consecutive days.

On the plus side, I managed to go out for an hour and a bit to Cheers with the usual crew (AKA the Posse), and we had a pretty good time dancing to the Boys Next Door. Tonight there’ll be more people coming out, so it should be a riot.

Tonight is also my last night of the Tattoo for this year, so I’m going to make it count. If I can still speak tomorrow, it’ll be a miracle!