foiled again. thanks, paul.

the rainbow! see it?

well, i have been having a good time here in niagara falls. i spent all day yesterday walking around the falls and the parks around here. it was really amazing and beautiful. in the sun the mist creates a constant rainbow and it is pretty. i enjoyed it immensely. i spent the night around the corner from a casino. it was wierd because i have been sleeping by bright lights the past couple nights, not because i want to but thats where i end up. the street around the corner from the casino was the darkest i had seen since new mexico, i think.

and the idea of that is odd, a block away there are tons of lights and the brightness is overwhelming, here complete darkness. i prefer it that way, but i think it is a visual for the way capitalism works.

anyway, today i was prepared to go to canada. the first time i tries with steve in 1997 or so we were denied at the border because of the spikes on our jackets. the border patrol considered them weapons and offered for us to take off the spikes to get through. we declined and drove away screaming fuck canada.

the next time i tried was in 2004, again with steve. but also with my friend adam burger and a person called matt pist. it was shortly after the rnc in new york, i was still ailing from a debilitating spider bite. i could barely walk. we drove north through vermont with the intention of crossing the border and driving down into detroit on the way to my parents house where i would leave the tour.

i imagine it was quite a sight, us trying to cross. of course our car was detained and we were questioned and the car was searched. eventually we were denied because matt had an arrest in the recent past and canada doesnt allow folks with arrest records within the past ten years to cross. defeated we turned around. and, of course, we were stopped on the us side and searched again.

next, the only time i have actually been free to walk about in canada was in 2006. emily and i were driving with some of our touring riotfolk friends. we went with them to bellingham for a house show and then decided that we would break away and visit vancouver for a couple of days. we have a friend there. given my history of getting into canada i didnt hold out the greatest hope of getting through, but i did think we could do it.

amazingly we were allowed entry, without even having to pull over or get searched or anything. he just looked at our documents and said enjoy your visit. we went on through and everything was fine. we enjoyed our stay there and when we came back across, same business. handed over our papers and scooted right on through. no hassle.

so, this time, i had some degree of hope. i was nervous as hell, but i figured i could make it across. it was 12:16 when i got in the car to cross. i paid the toll, no problem. waited in the line to canadian customs and talked with emily on the phone. i figured it would be the last time we could talk on the phone for awhile, so i wanted to be able too. when it came to my turn, we hung up and i pulled on up.

i handed over my papers and then was questioned. how long will i be here (2-3 weeks), how much money do i have (about $1600), do i have an itinerary (follow the 401), etc. she was nice and gave me a yellow slip of paper and asked me to pull to the side. thats fine, i though they would just want to see the back of my truck or something. the guy when i pulled over directed me inside to the immigration line. i talked to someone there, and he asked similar questions to what the lady at the crossing gate did. i gave similar answers, i didnt think that i would be turned away, i figured it was just a formality.

well, after sitting awhile, the guy had run me through the system. his findings: 1. i have had an arrest within the past ten years that restricts my entrance 2. he didnt think that i had sufficient funds to sustain a trip of my length 3. he didnt think that i was going to come back.

i will never get to look from the other side.

i was astonished. he took me outside and directed me to the lane that took me back to us customs. he gave me a sheet of paper to hand to the gate guard there. i sat in the line of cars, i watched as a crew (about 10) border patrol officers descended on a car near mine (still in line) because he was taking pictures from his car. i didnt hear what they said but the guy looked pretty scared after the fact. soon, it was my turn to go through customs. of course, i got the hard ass.

he asked me why i had been denied entry to canada and he used a mean voice. eventually he asked me to turn off my car and give him the keys. then my car was surrounded by border patrol agents. yay! i was asked to get out of the car, and put my hands on the car, and spread 'em. i was searched, they took my leatherman. then i was led inside and i heard one of the agents say ("i pegged that one as soon as i saw it" meaning my truck.) i was deposited inside while i saw an agent driving my truck over to an area to be searched.

another agent, a mean looking small guy asked me the same questions again. he scoffed at my charge for resisting arrest. as if i had resisting him, he looked like he wanted nothing more than to throw me on the ground and cuff me/stomp on my face. i just sat there. i mean, there wasnt anything in the truck that they would find suspicious, they could easily see that i lived in there, but i couldnt be bringing something across the border, since i didnt even make it through canadian customs.

this wasnt the outcome i was hoping for, and i was just sitting there, unhappy. after a relatively short while, a female agent came back inside and just dropped my keys in my lap and walked away. i continued to sit there, then the rest of the agents came in and just walked by me. the little guy kind of sneered at me again. then someone i hadnt seen yet gave me back my passport and leatherman tool. i was free to go.

i went outside and someone told me where to exit. i went and parked on the us side and then got out of the truck. it was 1:14, almost a full hour since i turned my thoughts into actions. then i came to write this. crazy.