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Taken at 10:59 E.S.T.

That's an hour before most of you

Jealous?

You should be.

Och, wee lads and lassies. The Highland Games!

Get ready to be more jealous of me than you already are. On Saturday I went to the Highland Games. I've said this a lot, I know, but I think this was by FAR the coolest thing I've done in Halifax. It beats pancakes and parades, the Tattoo, and even Robin and my DIY Pubcrawl.

So the whole thing started at 9 AM, but I decided that I would rather go in the afternoon because the dancing was the Premier and Intermediate dancers and not kids and novices. I knew I wasn't going to stay all day, so afternoon it was! I slept in a bit and then left just before noon. As I was walking down the street, I heard a whole bunch of drums. I knew that the Atlantic Jazz Festival was in town this week, but I didn't realize that there was a parade. Good timing, Lindsay (pats self on back)! I decided to delay my trip to the games and stay and watch the parade.

It was a little bit of a bizarre parade. There was very little jazz. It seems that it was just a whole bunch of people that decided they wanted to be in a parade.

The parade opened with a weird clown and then a band of drummers. Not jazz drummers, mind you. They were more like spanish drummers? I have no idea.

They beat on ribboned drums with sticks.

Clowns and chinese yoyos and hula hoops. Real jazz.

Then there was a whole lot of this:

puppet thingies?

Win a canoe. At the jazz festival (?)

Bird-fairy things. There were about 3 of them along with gigantic puppets of faces and suns and moons and stuff. The bird-fairy things were kinda annoying to be honest. They would come right up to you and "CAW!"

And 2 troops of Flamenco dancers. Here's one of them:

Now, where is the Jazz in all of this Jazz parade business? I was wondering that myself. In the whole parade there was 1 jazz ensemble (the guys below) and one jazz-ish group. These guys were followed up by break dancers. I know what you're thinking and I agree.

After that 20 minute very confusing intermission, I ate some lunch at the fry truck by the Halifax library. I've always wanted to stop and never did. I had fish and chips and boy were they tasty. Underneath the truck there was a little bucket of water for dogs to drink out of with a sign that said "Free drinks. Pets only. Straws extra." I took a picture, but forgot to upload it.

I walked down to the waterfront and took the ferry over to the Dartmouth side of the harbour. The Games were in the Dartmouth Commons. I didn't know exactly where it was, but I figured I would be able to start hearing bagpipes if I kept heading North. I walked for a bit and then turned in the wrong direction when I was beckoned by the call of bagpipes. I would say it was like the Scottish version of the Pied Piper, but that would make me a rat, so we'll end that analogy. After a few HUGE hills, I made it! I knew that the cost was supposed to be $10, but i guess I snuck in the back because I didn't have to pay anything. It was only later that I noticed a big yellow sign on the opposite end of the Grounds from where I was that said "ENTER HERE." Oh well.

It was a beautiful day and one of the first sunny days we've had in a long time. Friday was bright and sunny too. I read somewhere that Friday was the first sunny day we've had in 22 straight days. I don't know if that's true because I seem to remember some sun, but I guess it's the first day where it's been sunny ALL day. Usually it's sunny in the morning and foggy in the afternoon or vice versa. I don't mind at all really. It's better than being in 100 degree Georgia. Plus, there is zero humidity. When the sun comes out, though, everyone takes to the streets in Halifax. It's awesome. People just come out of the woodwork. This is a really out-doorsy city to begin with and people love to be outside, but the whole city comes alive when it's sunny. Everyone hangs out or barbeques or just sits on their front stoop offering passer-bys drinks or food. I love it here.

Back to the Games. As I walked up the hill, I was greeted by these guys:

Notice the cute girl under the trees to the right. She was twirling to the pipers.

Just standing under the trees and practicing! There were band competitions all day. I missed the morning with kids and the individual competitions, but I still got to see a few bands in the afternoon competitions. They gathered under the trees to practice and then marched up the hill through where I came in and then gathered in a circle to play.

The guy in the blue and green is the judge. It was actually fairly neat. I had no idea these competitions even existed or that there were so many people interested in piping that there were this many bands! I can't tell the difference between good bands and bad bands, so I lost interest pretty quickly.

Then I wandered over to watch some dancers. Competitions were going all day and I walked back and forth between the Heavyweight competitions and the dancing competitions.
I don't know how I feel about Highland dancing. I think it's because I don't understand how it's scored, so it all looks the same to me. I liked these traditional sets, but to me they all looked the same and it was difficult for me to tell who was really good. I could definitely pick out the bad ones, but I have no idea what makes someone great. Also, they all do pretty much the exact same steps. In Irish dance, everyone has different dances for the most part. Also, it's easy to tell the championship dancers from the novice based on how complicated the dances are and generally how high they leap off the ground. I think that part of the way that Highland dancers are scored is based on how crisp the movements are, so it makes it harder to look graceful. There are also no leaps like there are in Irish dance. It just seems less show-y. I'm not saying that it's not difficult or cool, I just think I prefer Irish dancing. I'm biased though.

UPDATE: This article is pretty good about explaining a little bit about the differences. Highland dancing is more technical and mechanical with the vast majority of the scoring going to technique, whereas Irish dancing is more of an art and dance number. There's also is far fewer dances than Irish dancing, which I suspected. It's actually an interesting article.

Highland dancing is also very literal and there are tons of costume changes. Irish dancers use a single costume for every dance that they compete in. This may be because the costumes are just so expensive! Novice/Beginner costumes start at $600 new and Champion dresses can be up to $2000. I poked around the Highland dance costume shop and they seem to be around $150-$200 for the one pictured above and less for some of the other dresses. I have no idea though.

Highland dancing also seems to be literal in some respects to the name of the dance. For instance, in the Sailor's Hornpipe, the dancers dress up in sailor costumes. The movements are also based on sailing. They "pull" lines (rope), and look out for land and salute. Irish dance has a hornpipe as well, but it's just another dance. There's no costume change and the steps aren't a representation of anything sailor-y. The title of dances mostly has to do with the meter of the dance. I was really excited about the Irish Jig and wanted to see exactly what that was all about.

(sigh) It was not to be. There was a lot of stomping and "putting up your dukes" and angry faces. And they changed into green and red outfits with green and red shoes. The heels are wooden so they make loud bangs.
Best I can tell, this is what they were going for:
Curiouser and curiouser.

This little girl was adorable. She stood right in front of the stage and watched the whole dance, even trying out steps. She was stomping her feet in this one:

Now onto the more exciting part. THE HEAVYWEIGHT COMPETITIONS. Part of me wishes I got there earlier at 10 AM and watched all the events, but then I would have missed the break dancing jazz parade, and we wouldn't want that, would we? So, I caught a few events.

The Hammer Toss

They spun around and hurled the hammer as far as they could. Some went about 65-85 feet, but some of these guys got the hammer 107 feet (!!!) away. VERY cool.

But, really, I know you're interested in the famous caber toss. It's what everyone knows about. For those of you who don't know, the caber toss is an event in which the athletes toss a large wooden pole kinda like a telephone pole. There's a ton of technique since the poles are not always straight and the field isn't perfectly level, so you have to choose where you run very carefully and also how you orient the caber. The event is unique because the caber isn't tossed for distance or for height, but rather accuracy. The object is to toss the caber 180 degrees directly in front of you, which is considerable challenging since the cabers weigh over 100 pounds and are about 22 feet tall (it varies from competition to competition). It's scored on an imaginary clock. A judge will run directly behind the competitors to see how it's tossed. A perfect toss is 12:00 (12:30 in Newfoundland). A little to the right might be 1:00. There's also a side judge in the even that that caber isn't turned which happens a lot. They judge the degree that the caber gets in the air, 70 degrees, 80 degrees, etc.

Another competitor will walk the pole up to you so that it is standing vertical. Then the competitors interlace their fingers and slowly move down to the bottom of the caber. Then they press into the caber and toss it into the air, catching it on their palms. Do you know how ridiculously hard it is to do that with a 22 foot pole that weighs 100 pounds? It's also important to do it cleanly and smoothly, because it has to be balanced. If you wobble it, it may fall and then you get a bad score.

The trick is that once you get it kinda balanced, you have to keep moving forward in order for inertia to keep the caber against your shoulder, similar in a way to walking on stilts. The trick is to do it very smoothly.
Running also gives you a bit of momentum for when you end up tossing the caber to get it to spin in the air.
I was surprised how nice the competitors were to each other. They were all having a good time and ribbing one another and also encouraging one another. There was no animosity at all and they seemed to genuinely like each other. They were also giving each other tips when they say something wrong.
After you toss the caber, you have to help the next guy set up. So you help him take it where he wants to begin from and then help get the caber vertical.

Really fun. My favourite even, though, was the weight for height competition. The object of that is to toss a 52 pound weight over a bar. You get 3 tries to pass the bar. You can enter the competition at any time. They start the bar at 11 feet, but you don't have to try at 11 feet if you think that you can definitely make it at the higher bars and you don't want to exhaust yourself. So at 11 feet there were only 3 competitors. More entered at 12 and 13 feet. Some of those guys easily passed the bar, but they were just working up a rhythm. I really liked this competition because they let you onto the field and you could sit pretty close and watch the action.

It looked ridiculously hard. The current Canadian record is 17 feet. And some of the LARGEST men on the field couldn't even pass it. Even the 2nd best Canadian didn't pass it. There's a fair amount of technique involved, so although it helps to be strong, some people are just good at it. It also helps to be taller. The shorter guys have a hard time getting it those extra 6 inches.

At 17 feet, there were 3 competitors left. None of them got it after their 3rd attempt, but one guy came pretty darn close. At that point, they all get one last try. The first two didn't make it, but the final guy, Matt Doherty was probably the best hope. He's also the second youngest competitor at 24 and by far not the tallest or biggest. He got really ramped up with all that testosteron flowing and took of his shirt (yes, please. I've got more pictures for the ladies if they desire them. I am now a strong supporter of men in kilts). This is him passing 17 feet:
Matt, if you're googling yourself and want a copy of this picture, let me know and I'll send it on over to you.

I took a picture with him.
And this is this is the second best Heavyweight in Canada. He was also really funny and him along with another competitor did most of the announcing. They were hysterical and did a fantastic job educating the crowd telling them how things were scored, what to look for, and techniques.

This kid is a future champion:

He even had cute shoes!

As I was leaving, I went over to watch the last of the dances and this dog was sniffing the ground and not paying attention and almost ran me over. I joked around with the owner, and then she asked if I could hold her two dogs' leashes so that she could go up and take a picture. I made a new doggie friend!
He was adorable and curious and massive. He's a Scottish Deer Hound and just kept sniffing and getting into things. Soooo many people asked me what kind of dog he was, but I had no idea. I was just holding the leash! There was another cute little dog, but he just lay down and hung out in my shadow.

On the way back on the ferry I chit chatted with a girl. The Paul McCartney concert was that night. I didn't go because I couldn't afford the $125 tickets. Part of me wishes that I went and just stood outside the gate because apparently they had fences up but you could still hear and see everything. They had all the roads closed off, so people were literally dancing in the streets and on the lawns of the houses facing the Halifax Commons. I do a lot of things by myself, but concerts are not too fun alone. Oh well.

And that was my Saturday! I know you're all really jealous.

Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo (Phew!)

I bought tickets and went to the Tattoo. Unfortunately, I went alone :( Fortunately, this meant I got amazing seats. I was about 8 rows up and just left of center. Best seats in the house.

What is the Tattoo, you ask? Well, it has nothing to do with permanent body art and Tweety Bird. Traditionally, a Military Tattoo is a military drum performance, but it has evolved into a demonstration of arms and military bands in general. The Royal Nova Scotia Tattoo is the largest of its kind in the world with over 2000 performers. Interspersed with the military shows are other acts, some affiliated with the military or police, and some not. It was thoroughly enjoyable and one of the most fun things I've done. There's another fairly large Tattoo in Norfolk, Virginia, and a few other scattered near large military populations. Chris was stationed in Norfolk for awhile. I wonder why we never went. Probably because I have to rely on Chris to tell me things.

Obviously the show opened with the requisite Canadian military showing.
There were actually a few Canadian bands - a pipe and drum corps and a few traditional ones from Ottawa and around Canada. The mounties were there showing off their mad skillz, marching in formation with bayonets out. That's them in front.

Next, we moved on to the Danes. Their show started with a little movie about how some theives stole instruments and then canoed across the ocean to Halifax being chased by the military band. It was actually pretty funny. So their show opened with the theives racing onto the floor who then started to play a jazzy little number:

Well then the band caught up with them, they were forced to do push-ups and run around and then placed in the band. They played a military piece and the James Bond theme.

There were bands from I think 11 different countries. I obviouslly won't post them all here. They all look the same anyway. There were a bunch of pipe and drum bands:

And a lot of really ridiculous drumming:

And then the fife and drum band from Massachussets. They were amazing.

I was surprised that the Marine Corps band didn't make an appearance. I asked one of my coworkers who loves the Tattoo and he said that they usually do come, so he was surprised that they weren't there either. If you ever get a chance to see the Marine Corps band in action, you should, because they're really good. Even more so, you should go and see a drill competition. There are usually competitions among ROTCs and JROTCs, but the Marine Corps has a ridiculously impressive silent drill team. They're precise and there are no calls or whistles telling them when to move, unlike a lot of other drill teams. And I wouldn't be a good Navy future-wife without posting a video of the Navy drill team. Texas A&M has an incredible drill team, most famous for this.

OK, enough of my plug. Back to the Tattoo. To break up the band numbers, they had little competitions. One was an obstacle course between a Navy team and an Army team.

They were waiting until of them crouched down before they shot at a target and then raced back to the stage.

Very exciting. They also had this seriously impressive one where they took apart a jeep and then put it all back together again.

Wha??? And it worked too! They drove off with it.

The stunt team from the Hamburg police where also there, entertaining the crowd. They did crazy tricks like flipping people from one bike to the other, head stands, and wild moves.

He took off the wheel while they were tilted and then put it back on again!

That's 17 people on 3 bikes. The guys on the front leaning forward hopped on after the rest all came out.

There were also a ton of gymnastics numbers. There was one with these cute little girls with Canadian flag-ish leotards that ran around and did flips and stuff. Didn't get a picture. I did get pictures of a synchronized gymnastics display. They were affiliated with the French police. Insert your favourite French joke here. Either way you slice it, though, it was really cool. They moved to whistle calls by the guy in uniform in the front.

Check out those biceps

There were rhythmic gymnasts from Estonia, but what made it really cool is that there was a girl doing aeriel silks or tissu. Very Cirque du Soleil.

There was a gigantic choir as well as a smaller children's choir and 3 professional singers that sang a few solos. They were really good.

After intermission came more group stuff and less showcasing of individual bands. It opened with a tribute to veterans that had me almost in tears. The lady next to me who's been to 11 Tattoos says that last year everyone was crying it was so moving.

It started off with soldiers in old WWII uniforms walking out with torches and then modern military came and took the flame, honoring the Canadian soldiers who are currently in Afghanistan. Then they showed this moving video of the Highway of Heroes. Every time a Canadian soldier is killed, they fly his or her body home to Trenton, Ontario (which is actually really close to where my dad grew up), and a motorcade takes the body to Toronto. People started showing up without being asked on overpasses with flags and signs to see the soldiers home, cheering and saluting (if they were former military or in the police or something) in order to honor the fallen soldiers. At this point, everyone cried.

So to rev people back up again, they did a rousing Highland number. This place is really proud of its Scottish heritage. Pretty much everyone here has some kind of Scottish ancestry, so there's lots of bagpipes and Highland dancing.


There were a few other numbers, and then the entire cast of the Tattoo entered onto the floor. This is what 2,000 performers looks like:
There was a bunch of salutes to the honored guests which included the commander of the joint forces in Afghanistan (or something like that).

This guy had to say "Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo present arms!" a lot.

And then it was over :( It was a 3 hour show, so I felt I got my money's worth. I went down and wanted to take pictures with people. I've decided that I've got to just hand my camera off if I ever want to have myself in any pictures. So I went up to a mountie to take a picture with her and while we were getting ready to smile, 2 other mounties just ran up and got into the picture! Sorry it's so blurry. The problem with handing the camera off is that people don't know how to use it.

I also took a picture with this bagpiper from Montrael who was soooo nice! He was hysterical and just a big teddy bear. Who couldn't love this guy with his big smile?

Last I took a picture with these TALL British gaurds. Don't let their fierce nature fool you. They were just busy joking around and teasing each other when I walked up, then they snapped to attention for my picture. You can even see the guy on the right starting to smirk. He burst out laughing as soon as the picture was taken. I'm surprised he even made it through the picture since the soldier taking the picture was cracking jokes the whole time.

So that was the Tattoo! So fun! The next day at work, one of the piping bands was playing in the rain and marching around the pier, presumably to advertise and sell more tickets. They walked right in front of my office! This was taken from my window:
I swear, this harbour conspires to make sure I get no work accomplished. 'Til next time!