PART 33: Mini Biography, Vol.10: The Conclusion, Pt.1
Welcome to the beginning of the end of this story, and the entrance into the New Era of Freeze Flame. This is the first Part, in a recap in some of the events that brought us to this point. It is the overlap, from Set Backs & Milestones into the Decade of Development. This is The Rize & Grind Era, enjoy!
The Autobiography of Freeze Flame:
Vol. 9: 2000 & BEYOND, The Rize & Grind Era Pt.1
As The new millennium came about, a young Red Brown came to realize that his plans were becoming realized. He was steadily accomplishing goals on a much more regular basis, including making contact with his birth Mother in the first quarter of the year, and earning his High School diploma only months before...
It was on July 4, 2000 that Red finally realized that changing his mentality about changing his life for the better, and getting to the point where his goals were achievable would benefit from a change of venue, or a new perspective...
As he took his seat on the bus, and watched Toronto pass his eyes for the final time, at least for awhile... Red knew how long his bus pass was valid for, but that didn't stop him from thinking far beyond that... Red carried everything that mattered to him at the time, all contained within three bags. The necessities, clothes, etc.. and in his carry on, a book of Cd's and a half dozen of the latest music industry magazines... Which would all be updated along the way, adding to his collection...
He knew... As Toronto flew past him, that this new change in perspective would be a good move for his mental state as well as his business ideas. It was one of those things Red felt needed to be taken care of before he could really move forward in his new life...
Red's thoughts shifted towards more positive things, his focus on music, among other things.. it wasn't that he was a musician or anything, or even that he wanted to be. He just had a passion that was fueled by a need to change his whole lifestyle, get out of the street and into a studio-type thing. Red had applied to a college program before leaving Toronto, a school with a focus the Music & Entertainment industry... But he also made the application to the Vancouver campus, just so he had a reason to get out to the coastal city...
It was near the end of the summer, before he actually got there. Before he arrived, Red had a stop over in Calgary, where he was able to obtain tickets for the concert series he missed back in Toronto. With an August date in Vancouver, and an After party at Vancouver's Commodore Ballroom... Not really knowing what that was, yet...
By the time August 2000 rolled in, Red had been to Every province west of Ontario, and met his Birth Mother who happened to live in The Yukon Territory, all by bus... travelling was another big interest of Young Red Brown, He managed his time wisely and was able to meet up with a great number of both his new found birth family as well as members of his other family that he hadn't seen in most of his life...
So, Upon arriving in Vancouver, a city where Red had relatively little knowledge and absolutely no friends or family... he decided to explore. He stored his bags in a locker and went for a walk, and what he found he probably never imagined... He needed to check his email, so he went to the nearest library... The bus station was on Main street, the Library Red walked to was at the intersection of Main & Hastings...
The walk was only a few blocks, not that far away, but in that short time, Red was approached over a dozen times by people either looking for or wanting to sell, a variety of drugs, or simply themselves for the former... Red's mind was blown. He was completely caught off guard by what he saw, but he continued to where he was headed... The library was more of the same, inside and out...
What stunned Red further was that one of the biggest police stations he'd ever seen was on the opposite corner of the same intersection. After completing what he needed to, Red stayed in the area for a short time, and went for a walk around the neighborhood... A change in perspective? That is exactly what he got. He'd been to most places in Toronto, but never really seen such a concentrated amount of poverty and drug use in one area...
He needed a place to stay while in the city, so he went back to the bus station to get his stuff and try to find a place to get settled for a few days... Red found a brochure for a hostel in the west end near a beach...
Luckily, there was also a shuttle bus to and from the bus station. Red climbed a bored and went out to the beach hostel... It was roughly the middle of August 2000, he sat quietly looking out the window at a city he didn't remember ever being to, and took notice to the colors, something sparked a thought, this city almost felt tropical in comparison to Toronto...
Red spent the next week or so hanging out in the City of Vancouver and at the hostel... just exploring the strips and what not. He found a community center on Granville Island that he could play some basketball for free and feel like a local and less of a tourist, he then figured out where the school was in which he applied and had been accepted early that summer.. Red then called to set up an appointment for a tour, etc.
Although Red had been accepted to attend the Industry school, he would be obligated to pay the entire tuition up front, that alone prevented him from attending. The students weren't very encouraging either, in passing, quite a few of them stopped him and told him not to waste his money...
It was the night before the concert, Red was running out of his stash... it had lasted for quite awhile, but he wasn't concerned, he also wanted to get his drink on before getting to the show... This was the first time all summer he had been on his own and had the chance to party a bit, he went to the stadium concert sober, and enjoyed it, he saved his buzz time for the after party... The Commodore Ballroom was a nice big performance venue in the middle of downtown Vancouver, probably one of the nicest places he'd been... good seating and a big dance floor, not that he was going to dance... And the stage could be seen from damn near any seat in the house...
A couple days later, Red decided he'd like to head back up north to Whitehorse, this time the trip was from Vancouver, so the bus trip would be different... all the way through the mountains... By this time it was late August 2000, Red only had a couple more weeks remaining on his buss pass and was hesitant about going home, he was more interested about finding a place to live or settle in for the fall...
Although it was still summer, Red noticed the weather changing, the mountain tops already had snow, and the winds were increasing... Whitehorse in late August felt like Alberta in November... After a series of Job interviews with no success, Red decided that he wasn't going to stay in Whitehorse. He decided to head back to Edmonton and take a chance on finding a job there...
Red just wasn't ready to return to Toronto, and with only a few days left on his ticket, he really needed to find a place to stay for a little longer. He went to see his grandmother, since his visit earlier in the summer was cut short by travel plans. She always welcome him for a visit, but this time as he discussed his plans with his Gramma and his Aunt... They told him he could stay with them for awhile...
Red was able to land a job within a week of his bus pass expiring, his living situation was volatile... It was Red's Birthday in late September, when his Grandmother told him she wanted him out of the house by the end of October... It was a good thing he had already been looking for a new place to go.... He just seemed to have a feeling that was going to happen. Luckily, he found a shared accommodation in Vancouver. He decided that he would take it and was gone two weeks earlier than he had to be...
He boarded a bus, once again headed towards Vancouver... Looking forward to meeting a new friend and seeing what life would be like in a new city...
This time Red departed from Edmonton with four bags, headed to a new place, to start over again and meet some new people. Red was feeling good about the move, even though he had never met his new room mate in person... The two of them were both in need of some assistance, one, Red needed a place to live, and the other needed a room mate in order the keep her place to live...
......................................................
--
No comments:
Post a Comment