and the money goes to...

the guy in the salesman uniform..oh wait... he is a salesman. nice guy really that derek hui, but a salesman nonetheless...so here or there it is, in the pictures..my new ride...mainly for work but also for lawns and sleeping in at roadstops and in the middle of nowhere...

more details later...and just so ya know...i'm broke...

good times...

g. xo

renewed faith, turkey burgers and kids in cars

ok...so i'm gonna stop short and not say i have a great renewed faith in people but, last night when i got home there was a note under my door regarding my camera. a guy who lives down the hall from me found it in the parkade and was holding onto it for me. so great! i have to say i handles this pretty well and never freaked out and maybe that was the key...maybe. i was going to call about a new yesterday but held off just in case it turned up...so thanks to Gio down the hall...god bless you! below are some of the pics from the 'lost' camera...more to come...
last night i had no food to cook so i stopped by meinhardt and picked up a couple of turkey burgers...damn good...a little salad and it was all good...and to come home with good food and find the note about my camera was pretty good...
i e.mailed the bastard car salesman last night about the honda element i looked at last week...i made an offer so we'll have to see what the dick says...and i'm sure he's very nice outside of work but the fact that he's a car salesman makes him a dick by default. we'll see...
any one want to buy a honda civic?

have a great day...

g. xoxo

robert and beth's kid # 1



kid # 2



happy mom and dad...



but they know the pain is coming...



some dude's cart just couldn't take it anymore...



it sat there for about six hours...

hands in mitts, tunes you should know and the network returns...

for those who may be so inclined...loser baseball, not my name for it but one that fits in a good way, has begun every wed. night at that big park just outside of strathcona, just off prior street...keith parry, head hondcho at scratch records, heads it up and it's really a good time...bring a ball if you have one, a glove and good attitude..it's all for fun. wed. at 7 pm...if it rains then it's off..call me if you need more details...i love it..even if i can't run very well as i am a little bit crippled by my bad ankle...and i'm old...
the psychic network returns to vancouver today after a two week run in europe...london, paris and zurich...so i have to run out to the airport tonight and grab her and her shitola..she'll be tired i'm sure...her flight was from zurich to london and then london to vancouver..fuck that shit...
this weekend at the pickle i had the ipod running and on random it does some wacky mixes...but, some of the songs it plays really bring back memories...john prine then rapeman then waterboys, etc...and i have to say....trouser minnow by rapeman is a killer...and blue umbrella by john prine is a killer but in a completely different way...as is my mexican home. while dear abby sems to be the song everyone knows by john prine, the sweet revenge album is excellent all the ay through. i heard it repeatedly through my youth as my dad played it a lot as did my uncle..later on i latched onto it as did a lot of my friends most noteably jeff gray who did a show after me on citr radio called 'floyd's corner'. i had started doing a portion of my show where i played country music and called it by that name and then jeff came along and adopted the title when he took over from me on thos late nights.
below are a couple retro photos, as i don't have a camera anymore...new pictures will come soon enough i just have to give paul clarke a call and see what kind of deal he can wrangle me...
ok...i'm not sure what it is but i have begun to have some sleeping problems...up every hour on the hour, restless sleeps, tired in the mornings...shitty....oh well...

have fun...i'll be sleeping...

garn xo

james v. on the set of UC:Undercover. a shitty show we did a few years back...ok, more than a few years back...the network was on that show as well....every once in a while we get james back with us but he's usually holed-up with his own gang of misfits...joel would love to get him back...



i love smoking and used to do a lot of it...a whole lot of it...sometimes i wish i still did...i miss it...

well..it just gets better and better...

today on my way to the pickle, and i suspect it hasppened when i was getting into the honda civic which is slung lower than my comet, my digital camera went bye-bye...i think it fell out of my hoodie pocket and onto the ground in the parkade but i didn't notice until i got to granville island...fuck..so there won't be any pictures on the old blog for a while until i can get a few paycheques off this new show and go buy a new one..awesome...so bad things don't happen in threes..with me there is no limit to the goodness...i put a note on the bulletin board downstairs here in the building but i don't hold out much hope...someone finds a digital camera they ain't turning it in...
i think what pisses me off most is losing the pictures i had on there from yesterday...so no beth, no robert, no kids, no overturned binner cart..use your imagination....

FUCK!

ok..back to the hockey game now....

g. xo

give that man a smoke...

that post last night was shitola...really. so i'm getting a haircut today? who cares..? i was tired and falling asleep when i did it...i just love that picture of the hair salon in san francisco...so sue me.



this knew frank kozik bust is pretty cool though...but i really do need to get rid of a few toys before i buy any new ones...really...i have gotten rid of a bunch in recent weeks but need to relocate a few more...some ebay/kid robot action soon...
i took some good pics last night but have left the cords and cards i need to download them to the computer at the shop...fact is...the computer i have at home now, my ibook, is now void of any garn action on it..the macbook has all the action and it's at work so...maybe i'll drop by the shop later and download some pics and post them tonight...everyone's away so i'm the lonely guy tonight...mishi and garbs are in england, the network is in zurich and corie's in NYC...muc's working, bunt's working...i think i'll get a movie to watch after the might oiler game tonight...veggie dogs and ritz crackers...
but there are some good pics of robert and beth, an overturned shopping cart that once belonged to a binner and other shitola...

have fun today...i'll be at the pickle...

g. xoxo

short for spring...

k-win, the best damn hairdresser in all vancouver...i kid you not...is going to give me a haircut tomorrow...and i need it...this is after my tour of duty at hammered and pickled...the garbs and mishi are still in england living it up so i'll be minding the store...hopefully i'll remember how to ring in shit and use the interact machine...good deals to be had so come on down.
then the oilers game..so come on over....bbq and hockey..a spring tradition...

ok...i'm still full from dinner with daisley...i need a nap....

g. xo

the boys of spring....

my boys..the detroit tigers....look at them now...it does my heart good i'll say that - 33 - 14 to start the year...best fuckin' record in the MLB...they have been bad for a long time...and now are starting to show some life...i won't go into any sort of sports rant or rave but i will say this...go tigers...and with a manager who loves to hack butts in the dugout i say they have a good chance of going all the way...
no news on the car/elemnt front..a couple of bites on the honda civic but nothing that shows and promise...i'll probably be driving that thing around for a few months to come...and sell it to some forgein exchange student who needs to get up to UBC every morning...

ok..back to work...

have fun...

g. xo

good things happen to good people...

..and i think i'm a pretty good guy overall. i don't lie, i treat people with respect, try and help out others when i see they need...so why am i continually getting fucked over? when is something good going to happen...ok, sure...there are glimpses of things here and there...but in a general sense...if it wasn't for bad luck i'd have no luck at all...
yesterday i told you of the coolerator's demise, the lawn mower dying, the show i'm on taking money out of my pocket..because lord knows they don't have enough money in their 60-80 million budget to give me a little goodness...fuck! i hate my job!!!! ok...i feel a little better..if it wasn't for the good guys i work with i'd be outta there... someone needs to tell the higher ups in film that they're not curing cancer...
ok..down to the real problemo... i went and found a honda element i was interested in...second hand honda...great car/truck/whatever...and i took my honda civic, the one i had bought for marcy so she could get to school and concentrate on school and not the shitty transit system we have here, and used it as a trade-in on the element. so, i paid somewhere in the 'hood of $6500.00 when i bought it in sept, i think, now they want to give me $2500.00 for the trade-in...i told them that was like a kick in the nuts! and i walked. 2500 bucks!? wow1 that's awesome...looks like i'll be fixing the coolerator afterall and selling the honda through a private sale...i guess...the for sale signs go in tomorrow and that'll be exciting. having idiots coming over, kicking the tires, asking stupid questions, low-balling me even more...good times...i'm fucked.
ok..good times..another dinner of ritz crackers and veggie burgers...i'm living large lately.
my dad says tomorrow is another day and that it'll be better...i love you floyd but i would have thought that by now you would have given up on that thinking...i'll try it but..i know it ain't true...

night night.

garn xo

coolerator....1985-2006. thanks buddy.

yup. it's not been totally confirmed yet but...the coolerator may be dead. i lent it to eric today and the transmission finally packed it in. i'm sorry it was eric who had to deal with it but...the coolerator owes me nothing and i love him, in fact, he's been a great van. hauling shit here and there, getting me to mowing jobs, moved furniture, etc...i love the coolerator. i'll miss him. i'm going to look at a honda element tomorrow in north van so we'll see what's what. it'll never be as good or as well loved as the coolerator but...
it's been a rough week or so. my mower packed it in, or maybe has packed it in...it's in the shop so we'll see...the show i'm working on took away some of my cash so i'll be making less money now on this show...giving my life away for less and less....i shouldn't complain about that though i should just be happy to have a job...hopefully things do only happen in threes...
in the good to great area of things...i want to give my endorsement to the red burrito at commercial and first ave....it's not really a burrito in the traditional sense but it's fuckin' good. corie and i went there today and had a little lunch action...it's cheap and a good eat.
so not a great day but a little light in there....

heads up.

garn xo

hhhmmmm

first day back...

i just wanna go home.

g.

bathrooms, blackboards, the depot and bbq

i had a hard time getting out of the house today. really hard. after yesterday where i didn;t leave the house all day-not even outside my door. that's kinda wacky. maybe not. brian came over last night and did his best to catch up on the sopranos he's missed. he was going to come over today and watch some more episodes but then he went incommunicado... anyhow.
i finally left the house only because i had to if i wanted to finish up the bathroom. i needed a mirror and a couple other small items and i also needed to go by propellor and use the facilities to make a couple things. so off to the home depot where i ran into marcy. i hadn't seen her for, what seems like, a long time. we had a nice talk and it was nice to see her. she was trying to get shit done on her only day off because she's been working a lot...i know that one...
after a long wait in line if was off to propellor...tobe was there which made my trip well worth the while...i haven't seen him a while and it was nice to give him a hug and shoot the shit. he's a good man that tobe, one fo the best. truly. and so it was, after a few laughs, a few cuts, and a decision to make a new blackboard for the bathroom-why not...maybe i'll need to write a little note to myself while i'm....i'm...in there...or my guests will let me know what's what...
all in all i think the bathroom turned out ok...sure, the mirror isn't completely even...i used to be so good at getting that shit right..now...not so much...it'll bug me forever..oh well...
my new computer has the isight thingy built in...i'll never use it for ichat or any of that shit but it does have the photo booth thing so i was screwing around with it...now that's exciting...
i spoke with mishi and the garbs today...they're in england at mishi's mom's and the dunkle's...it's raining here and it's raining there...good times. they're going to be meeting up with the psychic network tomorrow and hang out. the network is back in england after a short trip to paris to see a pal and will be heading to zurich on wednesday...must be nice...
back to work tomoorow morning...excellent...tornack's gonna give me a lift into work as the coolerator is there now...hanging iut and waiting to be put into action...

rock on.

garn xo

ps..i picked up the new lawn order jackets today...edition of two...picks to come...pretty snazzy.

bathroom pics..

runaway smoothie....

so i took a little break from the bathroom action, letting primer dry etc., and decided to have a little toast and a smoothie...nice action. then..without warning, after being filled the smoothie decided to make a run for it...ok..so i bumped it...thank god, or whomever, that i made enough so i could have some more...good times.
ok..back to it...

more details later...

g. xo

that's a big mirror...now it's gonzo...



i love painting...all the prep and shit..it's awesome!

heads up movie lovers...

i will never, well maybe i will but, tell you to not do something...i will only recommend things...try and be a guiding light of sorts...but please, take a deep breath and really think hard before putting down your hard earned cash for 'art school confidential'...not so good.
last night megan and i went to see this new film and afterwards were hoping there was a way to erase it from our brains...i'm not going to give a full review but suffice to say it's shitty. they had a good thing going and hten about 1/4 way in fucked it all up....

ok..i'm going back to tearing apart my bathroom...good sunday fun.

garn xo

fuckin' indie rocker bullshit...and other crap...

as someone once said to me...they're just a bunch of pigeon chested indie rocker boys....i won't say who said it...but today i wanted to punch out one of them..the indie rock fucks who litter this city like lice....i'm ranting here so please bear with me because i don't want to paint them all with the same brush but there is a certain segment of a community i used to be a card carrying member of....it's the truth, i was recently refered to as "old school punk rock"....but i am so sick and tired for the ironic moustaches, ironic trucker hats, the ill-fitting polyester plaid pants worn by those who can afford shit that fits...if you can't i understand but why would you want to look like a homeless person? and that moustache? hardly ironic...i know it's about fitting in...looking and being accepted by your peers...but have a look around and look at how stupid they all look...again, not all of them...and what's sparked this rant today is this fuckin' indie rock shit who walked in front of my car today and as he got to the front of my car, i was trying to turn left, he slowed right down as if he had lapsed into a coma and gave me this shitty look as if to say, 'i'm gonna take my time....and you can't do shit...'... well, one day someone will do shit and punch your fuckin' lights out...there's a reason there are walk and don't walk indicators at the cross walks...to keep all the traffic moving along-both pedestrian and motor traffic...you go, i go...it all works retty well if we all kinda try and keep to the rules...and you know...it all comes back to what i've mentioned so many times before...
why can't people just be nice to each other? i know it sounds so hippy and flakey but for fuck's sake...this town, and it is a town, is turning into a shitty place to be...more and more people are becoming more and more self-centered, and couldn't give a shit about those around them...and this indie rock fuck today needed a little tune-up...ok...you're walking and i'm driving...sure, i have a car but you know what? i work really fuckin' hard and work long hours to afford it...so fuck you. fuck you and your trucker hat...fuck you and your moustache...you look like a jackoff...
wow...ok..that was that guy...i have some indie rock hipster types as pals..i do...and sure, i don't want to dress like them and they not like me...but we all have one thing in common...we care about each other and treat each other with respect. at least i try to. maybe that's why i like portland so much, or what i know of it...people are very nice there...i'm sure there are assholes there as well but all the people i have dealt with there have been great...vancouver's truning into a very unfriendly city. it's too bad...
toda as i took out the trash i saw the junkie's out back having thier morning/afternoon lunch on top of the dumpster...a little crack, maybe a side of heroin and a drink of some pop from a can they found in the alley...good times...

sorry about the rant...sometimes i just have to...

oh..and another thing i'm sick of...those fuckin' foreign exchange students who clog the sidewalks as they get out of school each day making it hard to get by them as they smoke and chat outside the school...get the fuck out of the way...take a side and stick to it...you don't get the whole sidewalk...sorry...i hate those kids...

one thing i forgot to mention yesterday...a very happy birthday greeting to marcy who turned 29 yesterday....
happy birthday kid...

ok kids...be nice to someone today...

garn xo

i am one sweaty guy...

so i stayed in williams at a quality inn thing...no fancy shit just a room overlooking the freeway...nice...then it was the I-5 boogie all the way home. i had figured out, with the help of the queen of the universe, that the new macbook wasn't going to be available in vancouver for a few weeks so...i was going to get one - tax at the border or not...it was still a great deal. but as it tuned out the guy i've bought stuff from before didn't have the one i wanted so the queen made some calls for me and the mac store downtown portland had one for me...but it was 4 pm and they closed at 9 pm..and i was still 250 miles away with the heat hurting larry a little and me as well...and larry kicks along at 65 mph at the best of times through the mountains so it was a test. but i made it, super sweaty as i handed over my credit card and walked away with a pretty cool new toy/entertainment device/work tool...so far i like it...and mishi now gets the old ibook and just in time as the old g3 powerbook is done...
last night after i finished the transaction i drove by missing link but they were closed...there were some guys inside but they were setting up a display of a new art show in the back...then it was coffeetime, as it was most of the day...so stumptown roasters it was..
a friend of mine had told me to check out a mexican place that was very good so i did a little drop by but...it was kinda fancy tacos so i'll wait until i don't smell like shit and i'll go there..so i headed off to la bonita...but they were closed...but next door a place called la sirenita was still open and what i got there scared me a little...i had a grilled chicken and chili relleno burrito...my god..when he handed it to me i thought he was handing me a brick in a bag...it was so heavy... but man was it good...la bonita's got some company...
then, back on the intertstate for the last of the road....and before i knew it..it was 4:20 am..and i was home...new macbook, tequila for skippy, lay's limon chips for mishi and a new hoodie and hat...back to work tuesday...i'm happy about that...i had a little road action and am ready to work...
good times...here are some pics from yesterday...

i ove you all...


g. xo


i also stopped in chico califonia as well...i have always driven by and wanted to go see what's in chico. my friend jessica used to live there as did my pal gerry back in the 70's...they have a coffee shop and an university...it's a nice little collge town...



i stopped for water...



parked out back....



and then was seduced by the food next door....



from the truck...

los gatos...well, they have burritos...

i have to say this about los gatos...it may be a small town built on rich folks - tons of fancy cars, ladies who lunch, silicone, saline, dockers, kids who will never ever have a real job, etc...but man, can the local burrito joint make a mean burrito. i'm sad to say i didn't have my camera or you'd at least be able to feast on it's beauty..at aldale's, daisley's fav. in los gatos, they have a few different things going on....i had the 'el presidente'...grilled mesquite chicken (and lots of it), rice, romaine lettuce, beans, some sort of chipotle salsa sauce inside, with gaucamole and grilled garlic prawns on top..with more sauce spread sround the plate...yikes...i couldn't finish it...to much for el garno...
i got my phone back from the guy who found it...nice guy. i gave him a six pack of nice beer for helping me out...he was very los gatos...but very nice.
i'm doing the I-5 boogie now heading towards redding, Ca....a little early for an in-n-out burger...so maybe it'll be something else...

keep on rockin'

g. xo

a taco for tom...

ok...so if you're at all grossed out by sappy sentiment or such things...maybe you should not read on...but, then again maybe it'll be good for you.




still here...? ok. part of the reason i came on this little roadtrip was to go to santa cruz and have my picture taken there. but not to just have my picture taken there randomly but rather, selectively. whenever i think of santa cruz i think of tom zallen. i know this isn't right as i don't think he actually ever lived here but his wife judy did-she grew up here or there... depending on where you are right now. so when i think of tom i think of them, together and i think of santa cruz. i wanted to have my picture taken or take a picture of myself, in santa cruz wearing the shirt that p.d. made after tom died. for some reason i wanted to do this. i look dorky as usual but dorky in a tom zallen t-shirt. i actually got a little sad driving around there today but it was fine overall. he was a great guy and the anniversary of his death is coming up and this was the only chance for me to come here and have the picture done. it was a great day out, not too hot but still left me a little sweaty after all the walking around. i had a couple of chicken tacos in his honour and a mango canned juice drink like the ones i have at the topnaga. god, i am such a sap. anyhow. i'm happy i drove down and did all that. i miss that guy. and i know others do as well... here's to tom...grumpy but entirely loveable...you're the man.

ok...so...i'm now in los gatos trying to hook up with the guy who found my phone...then i'm outta here and heading north. los gatos is kinda like santa barbara or some other rich seaside town...i could never live here...unless i was making 10k a day or something...i'm going to try andale's taquaria before i go...it's brian's favorite burrito joint here..we'll see.

see ya soon.

i love you all...

garn xo

burgers, combos plates and lost phones...

so i rolled into san francisco around noon today and hit the usual hot spots...i have been here a lot in the past few years so i kinda like to get in and get out...traffic sucks there, there's no parking, and ...well, it's busy...i had an in-n-out burger for breakfast, well around 11 am outside the city...then later on dined on a combo plate number one at pancho villa...i will, one day, actually finish a combo plate...one day...
bought the new twilight singers cd..nice and a new too many dj's thing...bought a new hoodie and new hat...like i really need either of those things...went to the mac store and saw the new macbook...nice..i'll be getting one of those babies...maybe in eugene on nthe way home so i save the taxes...it works out to about $250.00 savings...not bad...since i'll be driving by anyways...we'll see...
after my dinner i went by delfina to see my pal laurie..oopps...lori thompson..shit...she's hating me right now..i think it's lori...anyhow..she's great. i really like her..she's let me crash on her couch a few times...she used to work at sophie's in vancouver..her sister is diane thompson..an old pal as well...if you're ever in san francisco and need some good grub...delfina...the kids at delfina treated me very well...a root beer, some bread and nice olives...thanks...
on my way to santa cruz, where i am now, i dropped in on a friend of daisley's..sheryl...she's far too nice to be a friend of his...we walked around the town and she showed me where daisley lived when he was living there and her old place as well...then a little berverage action and i was outta there...
then i couldn't and still can't find my phone....so i finally got a hotel in santa cruz and dialed 'er up...the guy answered "lost and found..."..ron in los gatos has my phone...he's been having conversations with my pals...nice phone bill i'll have..i'm going to meet up with him tomorrow...i'm such a loser...

more details as they unfold...

i love you all...

garn xo

(lots of photos...completely out of order...)

i used to live right here...ok sheryl..



good grub..



me and babe the blue ox...



if you see a dinosaur on the side of the raod you have to take a picture...



hello?...hello...



more dinosaur...



i took this exact picture at this exact spot six, or so, years ago...




more babe...



eat here..



hey, it's brian's house..



garnet, please leave...