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LAT-VEE-UH! GO TO SLEEP!


The IIHF World Hockey Championship is taking place here in Halifax this week.


In fact, it's happening just outside our windows.


As my old friend C3P0 used to say, "This is madness!"


I'm delights to be living in the heart of a wonderful city, right downtown, in the heart of the action, plugged in to the buzz of the city, connected to the energy and excitement of action and excitement.


BUT THESE GODDAMN LATVIAN HOCKEY FANS ARE LOUD!


I mean, it's almost 11pm and they're outside -- literally right outside our window, even though we're about 80 feet up in the air -- banging drums and blowing horns in a rhythmic and joyous fashion.


Now I know what it felt like to be living on Carlton Street in Toronto when the Leafs won the playoffs. Okay, that's a bit of a lie. Because, as far as I'm aware, the Leafs never won the playoffs.


I just walked down the hall to throw the trash down the chute, and even in the middle of the hallway, in the middle of the building, the drumming, horn-blowing, and endless "Ole, ole ole ole" chants were melting my brain. The noise comes in through the windows ... up through the trash chute ... in through the bathroom vents ... up through the toilet pipes, too, I think.


This morning, radio station Q104 set up shop on the corner to run a contest and give away tickets. Brilliant! But at 7am, I'm trying to sleep! I was ready to blame it on the hockey fans.


And y'know what? Y'know what? When the IIHF tournament is over, and these wonderful folks from around the world go home after spending their hard-earned money in our glorious city, it'll almost be time for the Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo!

What's that mean? Bagpipes! Drums! Drums and bagpipes! And brass bands! Outside our window at 7am! Noise that could wake the dead -- only, surprise, you're still alive!

I love this city. I love culture.


But anyone who knows me knows, I've never been a fan of hockey.


Especially hockey players.


You guys who beat me up in school -- you know who I'm talking about.


Thank goodness I have a box of earplugs. Something tells me that if the walls and windows don't cut the noise -- oh, there they go again with the ... oh, it's the na na hey hey goodbye song with ole ole shouts in Latvian -- the earplugs won't do much.


Oh, Lloyd Robertson ... please take me off to dreamland with the news.


And that's the kind of day it's been on this Tuesday, May 6, 2008. For some of you, the local news is coming up next.

Comments

  1. What about The Frisk lulling you to sleep with his hair, eyebrow-flicks and dulcet tones? Or is he off too this week? (I've been a terrible newsie this week, sleeping through the teevee news.)

    Good luck sleeping tonight, hopefully Finlanders are quieter.

    ReplyDelete
  2. We usually catch the Lloyd Rehearsal show part-way through ... sit through Frisky and the weather ... flick around ... then catch the part of Lloyd Part 2 that we missed .. over to Family Guy on TVTropolis/Prime and then off to sleepies.

    Yeah, the Finlanders (and the Germans) were less rambunctious after the game... for sure.

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