On the bus to Downtown Canada

It must be the morning after Hallowe'en, cause I'm eating a Baby Ruth for breakfast. 17 Hours on a bus has turned me into Sloth from the Goonies. The wrapper promotes the 4g of protein within so I'm not too concerned. This candy bar is good for me and it was the most appetizing thing in the Buffalo Greyhound Station. 

The bus from New York was packed,  I didn't even want to try and take out my laptop, people were sitting in the isle. I slept a little but I had bus related dreams, which was just as bad as being awake on a bus. US Customs Border Guards checked identification in Rochester which I first thought was strange, but then one Guard had to tell a passenger he had one day left on his visa and if it were tomorrow he would be under arrest.   

The bus to Toronto isn't even half full. lots of room to stretch out and catch up on my blogging. I will update these posts with pictures when I can unload my camera.

I sent off some postcards in Buffalo, I hope I used enough stamps.

This whirlwind trip was so exciting and fun I can't believe it's over. I'm glad to be back in Canada but I did have stop myself from breaking out into America the Beautiful in the Buffalo bus terminal.

The Rally To Restore Sanity and/or Fear in Washington DC

Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert know comedy but their rally organization skills leave something to be desired. If you saw any of the rally on the internet you got a much better view of the proceedings than me and I was actually there. I'm so glad I went, I had the most amazing time, but the rally itself would have been more enjoyable with a few extra speakers and an extra screen midway through the audience. One thing that was quite obvious to anyone who was there, Jon Stewart is more than "just a comedian" as he claims. He is able to mobilize hundreds of thousands of twentysomething males in a way that would make Lame Cook jealous.     

The crowd was greater than any I have ever seen before. The closer we came to the National Mall the realization we would not be seeing much became quite apparent.

Greenman, on top of a van 

monkeys in a tree,

It was really cramped, and then it became even more so as we crushed forward to let through passing ambulances. A lot of people climbed into trees to get a better view, one jackass even climbed up a streetlight.

We could sort of hear, but couldn't see the stage or the screens. I heard Jon Stewart introduce Father Guido Sarduchi who performed the benediction. I was the only one in the vicinity who knew who he was, which I shrugged off saying "It was before your time," to which a guy nearby who was older than me said "It was before my time!". True.

Then Cat Stevens played Peace Train, until he was interrupted by Colbert who wanted nothing to do with a Peace Train. We then heard the familiar call "ALL ABOARD!". Ozzy Osbourne was rocking Crazy Train, which Colbert was glad to be on. The two legends dueled until a compromise was reached and the O'jays came onstage for Love Train. Colbert was fine with a "Love" train, since love involves "heartbreak and STDs", sticking with his FEAR theme.

Free Marc Emery was the one legitimate cause I did see

Bears are threatdown #1

We decided to bail since we could neither hear nor see anything, and most of the crowd had the same idea, we walked back to the hotel amongst throngs of rally folks, with even more signs and costumes. It took a while to navigate the crowd, and cell reception was nearly impossible due to the overloaded network.

Some signs were really funny.Although many of the signs were quite clever, alot were just a waste of the paper and sharpies used to create them, and only served to obstruct peoples view. If I'm ever in the need for a sign in the future it will read "THIS SIGN IS OBSTRUCTING YOUR VIEW!!!"  

Sunny J vs the Various Pimps and C.h.u.d.s. of NYC

So Ben and I ended up just walking around Times Square. So much grifting going on, dudes giving directions in the bus terminal and then asking for cash. With 3 hours to kill we grabbed a slice and decided not to make a play for Lady Liberty since it was a 40$ cab ride. It was nice to walk around but super busy (on a Friday night in New York? Who could have guessed). Since it's Hallowe'en weekend there were some pretty cool costumes. I'm still on the lookout for Snow White. We ended up on an earlier bus to DC, loaded with more rally types. I'm sitting with a guy from Quebec.

Ralph Kramden, used space travel as a metaphor for beating his wife 

I typed this out with my thumb on my phone so as not to disturb the rest of the bus with the bright screen of my laptop. I can't seem to get Blogger Droid to upload, (it never works!) so I had to copy the body and paste it into the browser(which is not conducive to blogging).

Sunny J vs the Empire State

The border crossing was pretty easy considering it was by bus. Everyone has to get off the bus and get processed I told the guard I was going to the Rally To Restore Sanity, he seemed to get hung up there, "...Restore American Sanity?" he asked. I assured him it was purely satirical and that I had no political views beyond casual apathy. I overheard another passenger, Ben, tell the guard he was going to the rally so I introduced myself before we got back on the bus. It seems we are taking the same bus to Washington and back! He seems like a cool guy, I'm glad I met him.

We chatted a bit at the Buffalo bus station. I was getting hungry, but there were only vending machines and I wanted a substantial.

At the bus station in Rochester NY, the bus was boarded by customs agents. They asked passengers about their citizenship, or rather, they asked if thy were Americans. I showed the guard my passport which he just glanced at. I have never seen this happen before, although I have limited experience crossing the border by bus.  

The bus depot in Syracuse had a Subway Restaurant, so I decided to get my Jared on. I asked for parmesan oregano bread and she looked at me like I was from Mars, they have different names for the bread, apparently. She also gave me a choice of cheese, which doesn't happen in Canadian Subways.

When we got back on the bus we met some student-types going to the Rally, I really think this thing is going to be huge.

We should be in New York City soon. Ben and I have an almost 3 hour stop over before continuing on to the District of Columbia. Ben said he wants to see the Statue of Liberty, I'm down to go since I have never seen it and I can't think of anything else to do in New York at 2am.

"Of course you'll have a bad impression of New York if you only focus on the Pimps and C.H.U.D.s."-Marge Simpson

Sunny J Goes to Washington

I'm typing this from a Greyhound bus on my way from Toronto to Washington D.C. for the Daily Show Rally to Restore Sanity/Fear.

I am a huge fan of the Daily Show and it's now five-year-old spinoff Colbert Report. When Jon Stewart announced his Rally to Restore Sanity I got excited, then Stephen Colbert announced his Match to Keep Fear Alive I was even more pumped up. I knew I wanted to go, but upon contemplating logistics I figured it was probably not going to happen. 

My good friends Matt and Kubi booked their flight and hotel the day after the announcement. About 2 weeks ago while I was internet chatting with Matt about the rally he typed the only thing I needed to read "You should come!" I checked out bus tickets, and suddenly I was in.

So now I'm on the Greyhound. I could have jumped on the Torontoist bus, but it just goes to the rally and back, I want to hang out an extra day and see the Smithsonian with my friends. 

I think the bus is just getting to Niagara Falls, should be crossing the border soon. I will be updating this blog as much as possible so check back all weekend.