are we driving to LA or saskatoon?

we got a late start outta town friday night and that, coupled with shitty construction through calgary and construction again on the road north to saskatoon, we were on the road for nearly 22 hours....good times. sleep came at a premium and junk food was our good buddy along the way..sure, we took some good food from caper's and such in the cooler, but an a&w burger is pretty awesome at midnight just as you hit the road....
ang and shauna took turns driving as i took turns sitting upfront and lying in the back of the car...in the middle of the day i had the back hatch open and just watched as the miles disappeared behind us...
today we had a late start but after hanging around the house getting our collective acts together we went out and hit the town. we had a short visit with shauna's grandma pearl - who is 91 not 95 as earlier reported...she's a pistol to be sure....we had an interesting time at the local hipster coffee shop...we may not be able to go back there anymore...i know i use the word idiot a lot but, the woman serving us was an idiot.
dinner is ribs tonight and i'm just sitting back willing to lend a hand if needed but it's a small space for one big man and three woman to squeeze into so i'm hanging back for now - until the ribs are ready and then i'll be right in there...hell, i made some of the breakfast this morning so i don't feel that guilty...well, maybe a little....
more as it develops....

g. xo

calgary construction...hey guys, there's no olympics coming..stop working...

the moose watches the road ahead.

my view out the back of the car.

glen gets a trailer, voltage gets a platform...

...and a whack of lawns got cut today...a whack! and after all the lawn action we met-up with my uncle glen and his wife denise and he took away his new fancy dancy made by our man al trailer...i think he's pretty happy with it...a full thumbs up....
this morning we had to pick-up the lawn order limo at carter honda where they fleeced me for 881 dollars - good times...but this shit has to be done doncha know. as long as it's under warranty, you're at their mercy...fuckers. but we're leaving tonight for saskatoon to see shauna's mom and her husband friets - shauna's mom's husband not shauna's husband....and her grandma pearl - i've talked to her on the phone a few times and she seems wicked.
hmm...a little break in the action here...a woman just phoned me and was concerned about a bill i put through her mail slot today....seems she didn't want her lawn cut every week. so shes gonna pay me for two of the four cuts but not the other two...she's the sister of the woman who originally called me to cut the lawn..and now the sister is saying she didn't ask me to come every week...right. see, it's not all glamour and goodness.
ok...so we're off to sask. see ya in a bit....

g. xo

ang and denise admire the new trailer...

the start of the voltage munny show platform...a huge thanks to katherine for making the cables that eventually held it up - your reward is coming.... and andy v. for his advice as well...

i mcgyver, ang supervises.

the day after our last bomber hockey game, matt said he'd give me a ride to richmond so i could meet-up with ang as she had headed south to keep on cutting while i slugged it out on the ice...this way she wouldn't have to come and get me before we could get back to cutting grass. good idea matt...thanks. as we left the parking lot, however, matt's electrical system suddenly died. i thought he had just turned off the radio for a little quiet time but it was gonzo. as it turned out his battery post has broken and it was time to jingus it into place so we could get going...after a little fuckin' around i managed to mcgyver it into place and away we went...good times...and again, thanks for the ride matt!


ang and i cut like crazy this weekend and will cut again thurday before we head off to sask. as it turns out my uncle needs his trailer thursday as well and i still have a few things to do on it so i'll be hanging out at the shop the next few days as well and cutting grass. oh, and that voltage platform is going up tomorrow night as well...calling all garbs! we need help!

today ang and i went to the shop and swapped out an engine one of my mowers, went to the studio i was working at yesterday to drop off some paperwork and see the boys working on 2012 (the next big movie here...) - al, dan, andy and corie...ang did some supervising. it all seems to be going well....
ok...i need to have a little relax...

nice.

g. xo

candy colored clown

today is was taken aback...really. it doesn't happen often and, in the world of movie making, it's only happened to me once before when i saw al pacino do a scene in a crappy movie i was working on. al pacino did an 'al pacino' - rant and roll like no one else and all of a sudden i realized i was watching al pacino. does that makes sense? i know you know what i mean...i thought right then, " holy fuck that's fuckin' al pacino...." anyhow, it happened again today, not in the same way but it was one of the few cool movie moments...i was on set today on battlestar galactica and in came dean stockwell. i didn't know he was a character on this show, as i don't watch it, so it was a surprise and i sat there waiting for craft service to deliver us some sandwiches, when in he walked...
he's a character to be sure. a little grumpy, a cigar chomper and a guy ready to call "bullshit!!"...he's been in a lot of films and television (check the link above..) but to most people in my generation he's that crazy fuck in blue velvet by david lynch.
it was pretty cool.
i'm of the movie bandwagon until we get back from sask....the next couple of days is about getting the platform ready for voltage's munny show, cutting grass and getting the elephant ready to travel america's interstates.

more later

g. xo

luke, i'm your father....

...ok, wrong show...
so there i was back on set and making movie history - or in this case, tv history. the boys on battlestar galactica asked me to come out and who was i to say no? good guys...i got to work with my good pal harry - love that guy, rob, bill - who brought me a t-shirt back from china - more on that later, etc...good guys. 14 hours thursday, 15 hours on friday, and i sky trained it both ways....worked out pretty well except the first time i forgot to transfer at commercial (transfering is always where it goes wrong....) and i ended up heading to metrotown. i got to the studio on time but was a little out of sorts, but nothing a little on set breakfast couldn't fix. i'll be back there monday and tuesday and then maybe again when i come back from sask. (they asked me to work the next few weeks but i'm off to the fields out east-ish to meet shauna's grandma...)
today was a workout...
two lawns in the morning, hockey at noon - the usual three defenceman party - then two more lawns, then off to see k-win - world's greatest hair stylist - for a cut and curl, then off to west van to do two more lawns...good times...ang was a champ today cutting while i was playing hockey...tomorrow, or depending on when you read this - later today, it's four or five more lawns and then hockey at 2 pm, then a trip to tsawwassen to get some shoes from issy's, then a little work putting together a thingy for the kids at voltage and their show thursday.

ok..i'm tired....night night....

g. xo

wicked space ship man...


breakfast of champions...

andy and dan ....they're on a different show but are on the same lot as us...i love those guys...i cut andy's lawn today.

harry tomsack - now there's a great guy...

lights, camera...did someone say battlestar?

i'm off today to work on the award winning battlestar galactica...yup. it's true. it was almost a year ago that i first worked on that baby. very, very exciting. and the best part is, i can get there by skytrain - well, pretty close, i'll have to walk a few blocks and then hello craft service.
yesterday i ran a few errands on my cruiser bike - nice to have it back in the fold after a long layoff with a flat, ended-up on granville island and had a unscheduled meeting with senor tornack as he had his lunch before heading back to work on 2012 - the next big thing in town, and then hung out with mishi at the pickle where i ran into a few other folks and had some chit chat action...then back on the bike and home...i ran into the garbs on the way home. he was pretty happy with the garbs photo page shauna had made for him...he was out working for the dragon boat festival - which is just super.
marcy came by and gave me a ride to kits as i needed to pick something up and a ride made it just that much easier..thanks marcy. ok...
i need to take out the trash and such and then go get that skytrain...good times...
have a great thursday...

g. xo

garbs on the cart working for the man.

that fuckin' trailer...

...may kill me. this morning it seemed like it could all go horribly wrong, and it was just the small stuff then. not enough fruit for a really tasty smoothie, no toilet paper at the shop - which is a drag to say the least, i had forgotten to charge my drill motor batteries so i was behind that eight ball...and once i got to the shop i had to deal with the assembly of the wood onto the trailer al had built. it was all gonna be ok though...just a little elbow grease and a strong mind...
yesterday i was there for almost nine hours working on that thing - cutting the wood, fitting it - because even though al built it nothing is perfectly square, painting all the wood, painting the trailer itself...i was beat. there was no (real) food at the shop so i was living on water and such things as cheezies and breakfast bars...nice.
today, all in all, i was there for almost eight hours getting it together. getting the floor in was a bigger deal that it needed to be and then at the end of the day i had to paint the bottom of the trailer as well...anyhow...it looks good now and is ready for the finishing bits al needs to do. i really want to get it all done before we head for saskatchewan at the end of next week.
my next task is getting a platform made for voltage as they're having a toy show thingy and need a display thing...it'll be good, i just need a little time to do it...

ok...time for a little relax...i have a hockey game tonight but i'm gonna pass as i just need to sit still tonight...

g. xo

lookin' good...

there's a little math involved...not my strong suit...

there's a lot of little areas to paint on that thing...

someone say pie?...

today, after finally getting our collective shit together at 1:30 pm...fuck it was sunday, who cares?...we headed over to west van and ambleside to walk stella and get some pie at savary island pie company. stella had a huge walk and was done by the end of it. we ate pie while stella looked on and wondered why she didn't get a piece of her own.
afterwards shauna dropped me off at one of my lawns in east van five blocks from another lawn i had to do today....so after i finished the first job, i packed up my stuff and walked over to the other on mcgill street...worked out pretty well...who needs a drivers license?...not me, the mower has wheels and i'm still a young man...two lawns, biggish, in 1 and a half hours including the walk between them....i'm a fuckin' machine.
tonight was the bombers last game of the spring season that counted for anything...we have one more that is more of an make-up game on tuesday night but this one tonight sealed our fate. we head into the playoffs dead last in our division. nice. we'll fight it out and see what happens...i'm saying right now we win our way to the finals...you can take that to the bank.

ok...off to bed...

night night.

g. xo

get your passport, we're goin' to richmond....

last night, rather early evening, shauna and i headed out to richmond to the queen of the universe's surprise birthday party at her new man, tom's, place....tom put on quite a spread complete with mini hamburgers, many cheeses, halibut, drinks, and more food platters...good work sister!
the queen's birthday isn't until the 25th when she actually jettison's out of her 30's into her 40's...looks good on her.
happy early birthday jennifer....
(you can e.mail her on her birthday at: jennifer@telus.net)

g. xo

nice looking food platter...

shauna took advantage.

me and the queen...

glen gets a new trailer....soon.

al has been good enough to take on the shitty job of rebuilding - actually truth be told it's a total rebuild using a his old tires and axle and throwing the rest away - my uncle glen's utility trailer. i know al's doing it because it's me who asked, and that fact is not lost on me...thanks al.
yesterday i helped out for a couple of hours - cutting steel and drillling a few holes - and will, over the next few days, install the wood sides and paint the entire thing...good times...it'll be a very nice trailer once its done...the bad part will be breaking the news to glen about how much it all cost...
nice...

have a great father's day...

g. xo

al loves this job.

al knows how to build a trailer...

ouch! that smarts!

look at me measuring things out....

lawns, burritos, and more lawns...and the shums...

it was a big lawn day yesterday...i think we knocked off seven or so including joel's - for the first time this year and paul's - my usual partner in crime when i'm working in the illustrious film bidness.
there was a lot to the day that really doesn't add up to much here but let me tell ya, we kicked some grass ass yesterday. ang also got a new phone yesterday which proved to be pretty exciting as we had to go to the actual UPS depot near the airport to get it...it's a nice drive...we had snacks at que pasa in richmond after we finished the dog lawn - i do love the mexican food...and while in west van we picked up my old weed eater that now had a new fangled head on it and a fresh servicing..big money....but it really is a good machine...unlike my new machine which i, um, dislike...oh well...
it was a busy day.
later on it was time for some poontango! shauna and i headed over there to meet up with corie and katherine and then, out of the blue, it was the shums...the shums don't get out like they used to since the arrival of their bambino tai, but last night was an exception...it was really great to have dinner with them - they saddled up next to us and it became garn's secret limit of six people for dinner..i love those two. fun fact - they've been together 13 years now and mina credits me with bringing them together oh so many years ago...i'm happy to have helped out.
it was a great poontango time!
then we all jumped.

g. xo

katherine and mina at topanga.

brent gets scared by the size of his dinner entre!

shauna, corie and katherine....jump!

the shums.

ready shums!

jump!

brent and shauna talk burritos.

corie and jessica.

hey cheech part two....

ang and i took care of that lawn in burnaby, and how...12 bags of grass later and it was, once again, like a real lawn. the elephant was loaded down to be sure...
here are the after pics - the before are below in another post (like you care...come on, just pretend to care....)

g. xo

they call him garbs....a salute in t-shirts.

as you may or may not know, i printed up a few shirts and bags to pay tribute to the garbs on his birthday...because i love him...we all love him.
here's a link to a photo page with a few folks rockin' the garbs shirt...(thanks to shauna's handy handywork....)
nice.

g. xo

hey cheech...

more grass, man....
today ang and i went and gave the bull/toppings lawn a going over...a good one too. although there was a part of me that felt i did a crappy job...ang was solid, i, however, cannot get hold of the new weed eater i bought last week...i just can't make it work to my satisfaction...i get the old weed eater back tomorrow, hopefully, and will only use the new one if the old one breaks again, or ang or the garbs can use it...i will use my new edger and blower but the need line trimmer - as the pros call it, can stay in the truck...
ang and went and looked at a lawn today that's more of a field than a lawn...and we gave a quote and tomorrow we're gonna tackle it. below are some before pics...for those of you scoring at home...it's a doozie.

good times.

g. xo