Is that the definition of cacophony?

Oh dear, the world is defining things again.

We had the Santa Clause Parade on Sunday in downtown Vancouver. The parade starts about a block away from our apartment, so we typically hear some warming up of bands before the parade starts. This photo was taken outside our bedroom window at about 11:30am. This year the noise was far greater than normal, making me wonder if this is the very definition of cacophony.

A brief rundown of the noises (note, most noises overlapped each other - thus the cacophony defining):

11 am

• Santa Clause is Coming To Town - live band playing
• Oh come let us adore him - live singers
• Ratta tat tat - live drummers
• On the dance floor oooh ooooh - recording
• You better not cry - recording
• Something that sounds like a Beach Boy's song - live singers
• Oh come let us adore him - live singers
• Wooo hooo - live young girls
• Da da da de daaa da da - live horns
• Smoke alarm going off in someone's kitchen

11:30 am - I gave up on sleeping in and went to have a shower

12:30 pm

• Rock'in Christmas - recording repeated at least twice in succession
• A welcome garbage truck in the alley making it's usual banging noises while emptying dumpsters - a semblance of normality
• Ratta tat tat - live drummers
• Oh come let us adore him - live singers
• Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy - live horns
• Christmas Day in the Morning - live horns
• Bagpipes! Maybe we're getting close to the end?
• Clean and crisp and even - live horns & drums
• I blessed the rains down in Africa - live band - very odd
• Various other recorded songs

1:30 pm Drummers jamming - live band

1:40 pm Go Tell It on the Mountain - live band

1:45 pm Joy to the World - live singing and Santa Clause is Coming to Town - live band (at the same time)

2 pm - Didn't the parade start at 1pm? Shouldn't everyone be gone by now? Ohhhhh, the float for Santa is still in the street below our window... slow parade! Santa Clause is still Coming to Town.

I've recorded the cacophony so I can remember it once we've moved away from here. Typically we have the marching bands practicing in the street and the alley on the other side of our building when the parade comes to town. This is the first year we've had the floats and multiple bands and cheerleaders (they had pink pom-poms - that means cheerleaders, right?) crowding into the street below us. It's much noisier than having just the marching bands. They don't take turns, it's more like they try to out-noise each other. Cacophony. Yep, that's the definition.