Saturday, August 4, 2012

MacGillivray Bagpipe Band

I went to Canadian Days in Little Canada this morning, as I like more than just the pancake breakfast which is free with the festival button. I also like the MacGillivray bagpipe band. I was listening to them warm up in the parking lot near the park as I arrived. I wanted to listen to them some more but decided it was best to get in line right away for the pancakes, as the line can get long. There was plenty to go with the pancakes, I said three was fine. Also got plenty of butter and syrup as well as two sausages and maybe a dozen blueberries. After I was done eating I found a seat where I'd have a good view of where the band would be marching near the stage. On my right was a woman who said her dad encouraged people to sign up for service in the Second World War. Then he said we weren't driving over the Fort Snelling to sign up, we're marching so we can get used to marching in war. He was in the Battle of the Bulge and ended up with shrapnel from it. Then she shared a sad story, something about how her dad informed her how her mom had died. She had six kids and was living in California. Then her sister couldn't live with the news and committed suicide. So she moved back to Minnesota to take care of her dad.
   What was kind of funny was after the bagpipe band was done playing, she asked the man next to me if I was his son. I said 'my dad is a hobby farmer in southern Iowa'. I did get some pictures while there, like of the big drum that said 'Touch not this cat'. A man on my left side said the two women with green kilts instead of red were from a different band, Winnipeg instead of Thunder Bay. I noticed they had a big plume on their hats as well, so it wasn't just the kilts that were different. Eventually the dancing girl did take the stage, and he said she had hurt her knee previously but she still seemed to be dancing quite well in spite of any injuries. It started to rain as the band was doing their last song and marching out, but just light rain. It looks like there was some storm damage overnight. Culver's had a food stand at the park but it was damaged, and somebody showed up in a golf cart and started to dismantle the tent, using a small chainsaw to cut the metal poles into pieces. I was not alone in thinking that they could have waited until the bagpipe band was done as it was distracting. Though the music did seem to drown them out much of the time.
   I like finding music on Youtube, and had to find some bagpipe songs after seeing them in person at the festival. I recognized one of them as a song the band often plays- 'Scotland the Brave'. And yes, I knew another was 'Amazing Grace'. But before listening to those, I found one by Eminem called 'Bagpipes in Baghdad'. As expected, bagpipes are just a backdrop for the rest of the song, but the sampling is well done. Also looked up one song heard on my car radio on the way to the festival. I knew it sounded like Alanis Morissette, and it was. The lyrics that stood out was 'I'll be your keeper for life, your guardian'. The song is called 'Guardian'. I have a few of her CDs, one of them is 'Jagged Little Pill'.
    In the afternoon I went with my date to the State Capitol and saw the dedication of the Hubert Humphrey statue on the grounds. There was already a bust inside the Capitol, and a statue outside the Minneapolis City Hall as he was mayor of Minneapolis. There were many VIPs there, such as Governor Mark Dayton and both Senators, as well as ex-VP Walter Mondale and ex-President Clinton. Senator Amy Klobuchar was speaking when Clinton arrived, so she had to wait until the applause ended for him. Thankful I made it to this event, as this kind of event doesn't happen often. I learned some things while there, like how his body lied in state at the Capitol after he died of cancer in early 1978. There was also a playing of his line at the Democratic Convention in 1948 where he said the party should be for human rights instead of state's rights. I decided to pick up multiple copies of the program as I figured my dad would like his own copy of it. In the evening I watched some of the Olympic Games with my date, some of it was track and field.

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