i'll cut your fuckin' lawn....and paint the stairs..

...and put up a cabinet. it's all about change right now at chez garn. toys are being sold, things put away and a fresh coat of paint going on a wall here and there as well as the stairs leading upstairs. once a light slightly earthy yellow, they are now a nice slate grey. the wall that jamie painted years ago - and if you've ever been here you'll know the one (east wall next to the stairs) will soon be painted as well....a new cabinet was put up today in the bathroom to make way for more toiletries...not mine. soon, hopefully, a new 10 foot high shelving unit will grace the area next to the stairs that will house toys, books and other jingus - when i find time to build it...or get someone to built it. my circus sideshow banners that were painted by kevin house need a new home so if anyone knows anyone who needs such a thing we should talk....
friday night we - me, shauna, ang and corie, went and had some snacks at kingyo on denman street - sight of the motorcycle key in the sewer two weeks ago. pretty good food there...i made sure to sit down at the end of the bar this time to avoid the shouting and by the time we made it to our table i was still having a good time.
saturday was mowing which included the west end and lisa's, the dog lawn in richmond and as the rains came a little heavier, keith's over on mcgill street. it was good, getting all those done...i'm ready for the lawn season to be over but know there will be a few more until it's all done.
today mishi and i headed over to west van and savary island pie company where we ran into the shums - brent and mina. brent had called earier and i had missed his call because i leave my phone on silent and forget to turn it back the other way...i handle so many fuckin' calls at work that the idea of the phone really takes a backseat on the weekends and at night....anyhow...nice to see the shums..
and so it was later on today that the brushes were brought out and paint was thrown on flat surfaces. looks great so far....a change being in this case as good as a rest or full reno. i have a headache now and need some real food....
more details later....

g. xo

ang outside kingyo friday night



corie and shauna kick some ass outside kingyo

a jar of mustard in two minutes

finn and the garbs...



and not that regular mustard either, grainy, seedy mustard. yup, our man finn, who i/we met for the first time last night at topanga cafe - he and the queen have been hanging out lately, he can eat a thing of mustard in just under two minutes. or so i told a few people last night. maybe he can - i don't really know. he also used to row on the danish olympic rowing team - i'm not really sure of that either but it sounded good at the time.
it was a good dinner last night at the old taco repository on fouth ave...poontango's..we ate like champs, i made a bold move and had the chili releno/chicken burrito wet el presidente. nice. the garbs hammered down a fullbeef burrito and a chili releno. good work. finn had a salad. and a diet coke. doesn't eat much for a guy six foot eight. it was fun. shauna had made prior plans to help emilie paint so had to miss out on all the festivities. too bad....next time.
well, another week of the future oscar winning film has come to a close and i feel pretty good about it. there were some tense momenets, some meltdowns but all in all i think we made it thorugh well enough. there's always next week though. dan was nice enough to let me know that my hair on the top was a little thinner than say it was before and has now sent my low self esteem tumbling but truth be toild, i'll live, i'll just bring it down to a number one or two clipper cut and be done with it..nothing worse than someone trying to keep the lawn going when it's clear the bare spots aren't ever gonna fill in. get a total rebuild or let 'er go. k-win and i may have to break-up....maybe i'll still go in for a scalp massage...
well, it the weekend ...good times.

more as it develops. dog lawn tomorrow.

g. xo


blurry kids at topanga



the world famous wet chili releno el presidente burrito



bull was there last night as well...



huh?

running with stevie

Sometimes the little things are the funniest.

A conversation stevie janz had today while trying to pick-up some black latex paint I had ordered at one of our suppliers.

Steve: hi, I’m here to pick-up some paint for veidt (our production company)
Clerk: huh, for who?
Steve: veidt
Clerk: the letter V
Steve: no ****, $$$$$
Clerk: oh, you mean the *****?
Steve: (blankly) yes
the clerk goes in the back asking for if anyone has seen a pick-up for watchmen. Steve sees a box on the ground that says ‘garnet’ on it. When he comes out of the back steve says:
steve: hey there it is right there
clerk: what?
Steve: the box, the one that says garnet on it
Clerk: no, that’s not garnet, that’s black. You know that right?
Steve: huh?

All’s well that ends well….steve now knows that garnet is sometimes a color choice and the clerk at coast signature paint has met steve janz. Good all around.

I love it.

g. xo

running with larry

like a sixteen year old all excited after getting off his first bra - successfully, there i was after running larry through the easy wash over on the north shore and coursing my way across the second narrows bridge....big smile. it was good to get him out after watching him sit for all those months in the underground parking next to the elephant. poor fella. and not that i didn't want to be driving him around, i did, i've just been so fuckin' busy....anyhow. last night i dropped him off at top gear on clark drive and awaited the call to come and get him today - after the tune-up, etc. and the final run through air care...nope. well, i got the call but it would seem that there's a carb problem and it needs to be dealt with but he, the mechanic dude, won't be able to deal with it until next week..shitty. so i'm off to get larry, take him back to the underground and wait for next week to come...i had hoped to take a little cruise down to seattle this weekend but that ain't gonna happen now. oh well....what's a another few days i guess..
some seger just came on the stereo, must mean something....

one of my boys, my fellow workers here at the coalmine is less than impressed with me today...such is life here. there's enough goodness that the little bit of bitterness doesn't really bother me. besides, i always just consider the source - and then i feel a whole lot better.

more goodness tomorrow.

g. xo

about time

the light at the end of the...?



i wish i had something to report. i was talking to marcy last night and she told me something that at least one other person - the queen of the universe, had said as well..that the blog updates had petered off a little as of late. yup. it's true. i'm doing my best to keep my head above water and somehow seem to get shit done each day but this show is turning into a growing concern so, the blog has had to take a back seat...for now. i will try and keep up but really, it's a shitter and while not as bad as Shooter, still a very busy production and there have been, and will be more, missed lunches and a general lack of sleep. there will be a greneral lack of toast in the neighbourhood. (sam sheppard reference...)
in the past while - days, there have been trips to IKEA - on a saturday no less to look for something that i can't remember now, a dinner at all india sweets with shauna and devon where we ate like champs and felt like it later on..i think that naam expands in your stomach tenfold....and the hot balls..lawns were cut, which included a mower breakdown while i was out in west van doing a lawn that forced me to retreat back to the shop in burnaby to do a quick repair and then back out to west van to finish up...nice, a trip out to issy's to drop off a photo for her as well as some packages for her to mail for me from point bob - 1/2 the price, twice the speed - that's the truth. sunday night saw shauna catch her first real glimpse of desperate housewives on dvd - i'm going to try and get her all caught up before the new season begins...it'sn uphill climb but i know she has it in her.
after work, later on tonight, i'm going to be dropping off larry, my comet, to a mechanic over on clarke drive to get him all sorted out...tune-up, air care etc., so i can once again drive him around and enjoy the world out of a different windshield. i miss larry but after tomorrow, hopefully, we'll be back in business....
the bombers have been making thier way through the teams we've been facing going a perfect 4-0 thus far...i won the lucky luc last week as player of the game but my performance last night was nothing to write home about....it's like that sometimes...maybe next game i'll be more of an asset than last night. maybe.
i may have to go up to kelowna soon to make a collection of sorts...more on that as it develops but suffice to say you should always get full payment for goods sold rather than trusting others to come-up with the other half in the time they say they're gonna do it. more later.
ok...back to work for me...if i think of anything interesting i'll let ya know...even if it's not interesting i'll still let you know...

g. xoxo

i could sleep

\

music can affect you in ways no other medium can. not paintings, art, etc...they all have their own way of getting under your skin or making you feel a certain way but music, music can...well, music can change your whole day. every once in a while i hear a new song that i can't stop listening to once i have it in my head...or on my ipod...and then into my head. over and over again...last year it was "when you were young" by the killers and "heinrich maneuver" by interpol...now it's "is there a ghost" by band of horses...a song built on basically two chords and three lines of lyrics. i love it. layered up like a modern day phil spector wall of sound production without the modern day murder charges, it's great - possibly too short in a way that you wish it'd go on for a least a few more bars, like wheat's "slow fade" on hope and adams. on the way back from the studio last night i listened to it at least five times....and then more after i left work. try it out. maybe you'll like it. ask for it by name, tell 'em garn said you should get it.

g. xo

Omaha

There's absolutely no reason to call this post Omaha. I just love that word. That name. Maybe that place. So Omaha it is. Kinda like the new Lawn Order shirts that will be coming out next year. Some will wonder about the picture on the front of them and why such a thing was choosen to represent lawn order. No reason. I just like it. More on that later sister.
Last night was then first night on the new bed – I know, so exciting…I think it may be ok but it’s hard to tell as I had a very restless sleep due to some issues with…well, stuff. Hopefully tonight it’ll be a little deeper sleep and I’ll be able to get a better idea – not that it matters really, this bed has to be the one as sleep country isn’t about to swap any more beds out for us so…
Last night, after we got home from the gym and a visit to capers (and Ang) with the garbs who we picked-up in transit, Stella decided to eat all the food Shauna had in her bag on the couch – which included – three cookies (large), left over chicken and beets in a takeout container, a milk chocolate bar and something else. Stella would eat until all the food was gone given the chance. So when Shauna got out of the shower and saw that Stella was in shit…good times.
This film job moves along at a pace I can handle but one that keeps us/me pretty busy. Thank god for Paul – our sixth man. In the world of drivers he really is the best. And really, he’s really part of the FX crew and not thought of a teamster driver. He makes me look good – or at least passable. I was on set today for the first time this show and it looked and smelled like every other film I’ve ever been on. Maybe I’ll go back in a few weeks and see if anything looks or smells any different. Probably not. And if you’re wondering, ands you’re probably not, why there are no set photos or alike it’s because I’m not allowed – so don’t fuckin’ ask.
Margs later on – I could use one. Gym first though, then margs.

More later as it develops.

g. xo


good shots of stevie welding...

third time lucky...

a new bed is on it's way to my place as we speak - or as you read this (i guess depending on when you read this....) hopefully this one will be the one.

report later on.

g. xo

more yard sale...

more stuff up for grabs...

g. xo

some yard sale toys....

here are a couple of things going out the door....

g. xo

shitola on ebay....

check it out...

seller name: garn-o-la

take one down, pass it around.

g. xo

yard sale....

i have been going through my place and doing some 'spring' cleaning of a sort. some toys are on the ebay auction block and more will be loaded on when i get a chance - hopefully sooner than later...new shelves are being designed and built for my place, a wall potentially being removed to gain some light, some new lighting being proposed - all good stuff that will, hopefully be completed in short order...
one of the things, or two in this case, i am getting rid of is two paintings on canvas - not stretched canvas, that i commissioned local artist kevin house to make some ten years ago...maybe a little less than that...they're like circus sideshow banners and they're big. while i'm not sure of the exact dimensions, they're close to 7 feet tall by 3 plus feet wide. the only picture i have is below. it's a shot of them hanging in my place - an old shot to be sure...look no toys there at all....

if you or anyone you know is or may be interested in them let me know...

g. xoxo

bbq's, eggs and sewer drains..and a little bit of yelling

it was a big couple days - even though i know all days are really the same - same bigness, length in time, etc....but this seemed big. yesterday it was few lawns before noon to get them outta the way - including ani's so she could have a nice yard on her birthday. happy birthday ani!
it was a nice relaxing day after the lawns...shauna and i went over on the bike to meinhardt to get a sandwich and relax outside watching the great south granville unwashed. there's some characters over there to be sure. while we were there we/i ran into my pal barb bernath and had a nice chat with her while she chowed down on her own sandwich. i haven't seen her for a while so that was great...she's working at an art gallery across the street from sandwich central so after we finished our snacks we went over and had a look at some of the work there....then it was off to joels' for a pre-shoot bbq. we stopped at whole foods and grabbed a few sausages and goods to take to chez joel.
i have to admit i was a little scared of going to joel's for a bbq as i don;t really like work related events but i kept and open mind over it...and it really was a fun...had a few cinzanos, buffalo and chicken sausages and in the end some good pie so....good times. it was nice to take the bike out for a decent run - i like riding across the lion's gate....i think shauna liked the ride as well...
after the bbq we headed downtown to get a movie and head home but then ended-up meeting-up with corie and ang and going for snacks at one of them crazy japanese joints where they yell over and over again and then yell some more...but the fun began just as we were getting to the restaurant. as we got off the bike, shauna headed in to see about getting a table and as she was doing that i was taking the key out of the bike and losing control of it and watching it fly through the air and down a storm drain right in front of me. it was like slow motion. there it went, bouncing on the ground, out of arm's reach, and down into the sewer. so great.
what happened next was and is a long story but in the end it amounted to crowds gathering to watch the guy lying down on the pavement trying to fish out his key from the storn drain. ang had brought a flashlight from her place, mishi and the garbs came into help as well....more lights, coat hangers, sticks, etc...but in the end that key was gone...and let me say right here and now...thanks to all who helped out - mishi, garbs, ang, shauna and corie...i got a little grumpy in the end (i was really holding it together quite well...) but i snapped a little, mainly in the direction of mishi, and feel badly about that now. as quick as it was i'm sorry about that. so i'm saying sorry here and now. and to corie and ang and shauna, i'm sorry for being a less than stellar guest at dinner in the yelling japanese joint....i just needed a little time to get it all together...
ok. well...in the end we drove home with a drill bit, brought by corie, the the ignition of my bike - long story but it works to start the bike when the key gets lost or falls down a drain...
this morning was brunch at aurora on main street with the kids...it was good to eat wih everyone...good, yes....but i found it rather subdued in flavor...good breakfast donuts though....i had some sort of duck bacon poached egg thingy...then it ws off to easy wash to get the sap and bird shit off of my car and then back to whole foods for some groceries...tonight it's bbq at the house with shauna and ang...then off to bed to dream of work tomorrow. nice.

more as it develops.

g. xoxo

various pics from the last two days...in no real order...

stewart gets down at joel's.



tornack at joel's




kai and brad at joel's



mike.



half-gay's son raine



shanua and scott.



a spray stencil on main



grant smith lookin' good.



joel's fancy - he has a palm tree at his place.



joyce loves joel....what's up with that?




good bbq action.



corie loves brunch.



tornack and mike




the drill bit that got us home



al. i love al.



andrew and sonia



anne and joyce



snacks at aurora



my big meinhardt snadwich

our man tornack

he's a good man - our man corie. and today's his birthday....so happy 100th corie. and many more.




g. xo