you never rode the dream machine

we got into toronto about 15 minutes after the show we were in began. a strange smell (name one) wafted up from the front wheel that wasn't worked on in providence (our brakes went out). yet we hit the stage with all the gusto and frere jaque of a feral rhino. kurt smeaton played with us, and we ended up winning the first round of the catch 23. yay, kurt-lanta!
toronto is an amazing city. think new york, but clean. i rollerbladed all over downtown yesterday. there's enough room for bicycles and bladers to share with street trolleys and cars. the rails are a bit of a trick.. in fact there's this rubber goo they use in between the rails and the asphalt which simply grabs the shit out of rollerblades. imagine skating on the beach for about 2 seconds. i almost broke my face, but then realized how expensive it is, and didn't.
the free train toots on this week: among the freebies count getting my brakes replaced on my blades (thank you sports checque at the eaton center), free tram for rene and adam who had no canadian money, i got a free coke at the casino-rama (adam did not), we got free drinks at the catch 23 tuesday, and our wonderful, kick-ass host, alex tindal, has been kicking out the free vegan food everynight after midnight. seriously, vegan chocolate chip cookies, vegan fajitas, and (lo-fi) popcorn. this guy cooks late at night, then refrigerates his food to delay the reward. duly noted.
there's a photography festival going on in toronto until may 16th-ish. i bladed to a gallery on west queens yesterday and saw some gigantic prints a dude did of a phosphate factory in calgary. also, there was a showing of photos a guy did of many exposures of people - some fully exposed (read as: nude) some not (read as: ghostly). some old (read as: flabby) some young (read as: creepy cuz there were nude adult genatalia right next to them).
tonight we watched a bunch of improv - groups from winnipeg and edmonton. our buddies kevin gillese and arlen from edmonton did a really fun two man show that rollercoastered thru four story-lines and mixed cheap 80's power pop with emotional montages. very funny. graham wagner (you know him from iron cobra but his beard is like charles manson these days) hosted and invariably tidied up the place.
i've taken two showers since i left home last friday.