roller coasters and cotton candy

cam and jess get ready for the big ride.

....and a hamburger and a smokie and some crappy french fries...and....tonight after work i met-up with cam and jess and we made our way to the PNE eat some crap and ride a couple rides...(thanks to brent and mina for the prime parking spots...) i didn't think we'd/i'd run into many people i knew there but it was like prime time for meeting pals...it was really a good time...thanks to cam and jess for inviting me to join them. below the night, partially anyways, in a few pictures...

night night...

g. xo

and away we/they go...i'll tell you it's hard to take pictures while you're being thrown around on a roller coaster.




robert studer and his some marcel...we saw them in the line for the ferris wheel. robert has an art piece at the PNE...it's just below this pic...

there it is...it's a glass piece inside a shipping container.

take it easy.

jimmy and jane made the PNE scene last night...

the ferris wheel is a pretty good time.

we ran into bomber goalie andrew in the petting zoo area....he was pretty stoked to be there...

just a little off.

he is.




but i love him so.

g. xo

the stapler

mishi sent me this pic of her doctor's handiwork. nice. who needs stiches? just get out the old staple gun.

have a great monday.

g. xo

sit...stay...good dog...good louie.

many years ago, say 15 - i can't remember exactly and for this notch in the blog bedpost, it doesn't really matter - my dog, the family dog, primo - named after the hawaiian beer - died after a great long dog life (we got him around 1976)...he was a good fella and a great pal to a kid and later to my mom and dad after i left home. after some time had passed i decided that issy should have another furry companion and set to looking around for a little fella. and one day after a trip out to the valley with my pal shannon, we brought home a little guy who fit into the pocket on the front of my shirt. issy named him louie. louie was a great addition to the house on georgia wynd and issy loved him, as did we - well, everyone who met louie loved the little black multi-poo thing that he was. happy go lucky, well tempered and never less than the perfect little fella.
over the last few weeks, and really the last year had been tough for old louie, louie had lost his appetite, slept a lot, moved less and less, his hearing was shot and the lumps that had been developing - that issy had had lanced and removed several times - got worse and by saturday morning it was clear what had to be done...for all.
louie was a good little fella. i loved him. issy loved him. everyone loved him.
you were a good friend louie.
enjoy chasing cats wherever you are now.

g. xo

mishi makes her escape and joel builds a tree house

i met-up with my good pal nancy yesterday at meinhardt for a little catch-up - and there was a lot to catch-up on - (love that girl..) and while we were there we, once again, ran into neil wedman who may be the best dressed man in all of vancouver. i should have taken his picture to illustrate this fact but i felt it was inappropriate at the time. beautiful white straw hat - stingy style, nice brown tie with a diamond designer - as i remember, tan jacket and a blue shirt all tucked into some higher style tan pants and nice brown shoes. reminiscent of a southern gentleman, almost a 'to kill a mockingbird' era gregory peck. and since he's walking with a cane still due to his fall last december it all works great. and, of course, when i told him he was the best dressed guy i know, he dismissed it as 'just being dressed'. of course. i told him he was making the rest of us poorly dressed males look bad to which he responded, "i have nothing to do with that, you can do that all on your own".
i picked-up mishi from st. paul's hospital around 10 a.m. yesterday and took her home. she was happy to get outta there...i think it all went very well but who the hell wants to spend any extra time hanging around there? she had a very nice view though and, apparently, the garbs didn't mind visiting because they had great lazy boy style recliners there in the visitor's area.
cut a few lawns yesterday, and maybe a couple today as well, including joel's. joels' been building his son, cole, a beautiful tree house in their backyard for quite some time now. the roof is getting sorted out now and then the siding. yes, siding and a shake roof, etc...pretty cool. i never had a tree house of any sort. when i was a kid and we wanted to have any sort of covered place to go and read the 'books' and magazines we had shoved down our pants in corner stores and drink and smoke and have 'stand by me' moments, it was usually inside abandoned cars in the woods near our house. there were a lot of magazines in the engine compartment - for safe keeping. we also used to light up aerosol cans to see what would happen, and bic lighters. good times.
was on granville island as well for a little visit and watched lyndsay hoss-down a burger while trying to get out of her the time she would be calling me on sunday, today, to arrange pick-up of the element because she needs it to do some moving...nothing was determined. i await her call.
a long overdue dinner with marcy went down last night as well and we made the scene at topanga. marcy is making some big life decisions - all of which i completely endorse - and of which i will talk or write about when the time is right. it was great, as it always is, to sit and talk with her about life's lessons, life's constant changing nature and eat good cal-mex.
ok..i need to get a move on before lyndsay calls and wants the car...

have a great sunday.

g. xo

wicked 'tail buddy!

nevada gives it up.


the view from the tenth floor at st. paul's...nice.

mishi after four days in the hospital wants no pictures.

lyndsay mows down the burger.

joel made himself - or had a built - a nice little place for himself out back of his house on top of his garage.

now cole has his own place to read dirty mags and smoke.

blurry lyndsay and nevada

pulled pork action, recovery and a week that was.

to say the pulled pork turned out well would be an understatement - i think. and i know that sounds like i'm tooting my own horn but, it was wicked. i let the pork rest overnight in the fridge with all the goodness rubbed on it - stuff i am keeping secret - and that, i think made the difference. the boys seemed to like it as well...pulled pork sandwiches along with floyd's baked beans and corn on the cob...so great...14 happy fx guys full of pulled pork. dangerous.
mishi's surgery went well. she had a few tough days after, complete with hurling and such - nice - but it all seems to have passed now. the garbs visited her every day but due to her feeling shitty i didn't go by but will see her today, hopefully. i'm gonna try and get a picture of her staples...stay tuned...
it may rain today but i'm gonna try and make tracks and get a few lawns cut...i've cut a few after work this week but it's like beat the clock trying to get the lawns done before the sun sets...like a hundred mile dash with a lawn mower attached.
i'm off to meet my pal nancy for some breakfast and then to cut...
have fun today...

g. xo

i got nothin'

...but cam sent me this...

love it.

g. xo

Days out of days

The days seem shorter. And not just that it’s getting darker earlier – which it is, of course. I get to work at seven – or as close to that as I can – and before I know it, it’s time for lunch and soon after, time to go home (we head out at 7-ish each night…) some nights I have to rush out and try and get a lawn cut before the light fades too much. Some nights it’s off to dinner or …other nights it’s home. Again. Lately it’s soup – I do love the soup. Then. Bed. But all sooner than I think it should be, or at least it all seems to cram together faster and faster. I received a letter from the developer of my – potential – new building telling me that the building is coming along and that the walk-throughs will start mid-September. Jeezzus. That’s soon. In my head I’m not ready to go, nor with my new mortgages (yes, two of them…long story…) but I am coursing towards it all. The motorcycle has a hand shake agreement on it for a decent amount. Toys have been sold and sent to new homes around the word – literally. My TV has been ear marked to go to a new home as it won’t fit in the new place – at least I don’t think so…it’s going to a good home. Great TV. Really. A great set. Other things will get packed and away we go…whenever that is. But really…I do want you to come over and visit. I do.

In other news.

Our gal Mishi has made her own way to St.. Paul’s hospital – home of Issy’s nursing training – and decided to have her appendix out. Well, I guess it’s not a decision you really make but rather your body decides it’s time and someone else decides when it’s coming out. Last night at around 8 p.m. was her time …. I hope it went well and will get a report soon enough I’m sure. (On a slightly more serious note..It is an operation and while I make light of here to a degree, I do worry about things such as this and hope all goes as it should. She’s a light of immense power in my life and I would be lost without her…bright lights kid, bright lights. )

After some re-working the new lawn order shirts will finally, hopefully next week, get printed…the design for the back was a little overworked and made to look too perfect by subbing this and that and that’s not what I wanted…I wanted the sign from the window at the Topanga for the back and took pictures of it and had Byron cut it out and ….then another cook came into the kitchen, and god bless him he thought he was doing the right thing, and he made it all squeaky clean…so back to the Byron we’ve gone and I’m happier for it…Andrew from Topanga is using the design for his own shirts so there will be new Topanga café shirts as well coming down the pipe.

No word from the queen yet. I suspect she’s out living it up on her honeymoon somewhere in the Las Vegas area…lord help them.

More as it develops.

g. xo

that happened

that was quite a day.

more tomorrow.

see ya then.

g. xo

overgrown an understatement

these homes in detroit could really use a serious makeover...then again, they look pretty cool as is.

g. xo

more cone action

corie made a nice black version of the new 3-d cast cones...that garbs is a lucky guy!

g.

born to be...

..two guys on loud bikes. mike's bike is so loud he has to wear ear-plugs while he rides it. what the? i do love mike though...plus, he could knock my block off...so...
last night it was late night hockey with the east van halen boys...and some of the vancouver special boys (who i have suited up for before...) it was a scrambly kinda hockey but still great to get out and chase the puck around...)then i got home and all i could think about was how much i wished i had a burger...i settled for a banana and some sunflower seed butter - i know, think it but don't say it...
a few lawns to cut this week as well as , maybe, a trip to the PNE. which i haven't done in many years...exciting. it'll probably be raining - good for the lawns, not so good for roaming the midway.

g. xo

Unlike Steven Tyler…

….I’m gonna try and get back in the saddle – so to speak.
I initiated a project last year – and by initiated I mean I sent out a few e.mails and letters – and am now hoping that I may have it back on track.
A photo project doncha know, and while the focus has shifted a little, but still very much the initial idea, man, that was a fucked up kinda statement, anyhow, it’s getting back in line. Soon, hopefully – probably after I move – if I move – will be the time to snap away.
Who am I to be taking photos anyhow? Well…I am anyways.
Soon…more soon.

g. xo

Daddy’s little girl ain’t a girl no more

Today in Vegas things will never be the same. For the residents of Vegas and/or the rest who have made the trek south to watch the nuptials of the queen of the universe today. Yup, the queen’s currently in Vegas getting ready to walk down the aisle of the Elvis Chapel of Love to be married to her man tom.

Good luck to her at the tables while in Vegas and in the future with her new life with tom and her return to Richmond from whence she came. (Tom’s got a nice joint in Richmond that she’ll be making her new home…good-bye east van…)

I love you Jennifer. Good luck today and may the Elvis impersonator be everything you’ve ever hoped for.

g. xo

modems, moving and lawns

juliet knows what's what.

so...just to clarify, if you care at all, the previous post regarding telus and the idiots that they are...my home internet wireless modem died last saturday and after a long talk with the nice telus rep. i arranged, because i'm not home during the day weekdays, to have it, the new modem, delivered to my work address...well, that didn't happen. and, after a long six p.m. friday conversation with a guy located in the philippines, shocker, that included used more superlatives and profanities than i have used in any conversation in recent memory, i found out they had, indeed, attempted to deliver it to my home, not my office. wicked. you fucking idiots. it was a long trip to get to that place - finding out where it had gotten to. up and running now after retrieving it from the postal outlet in chinatown, it's all good...thus this blog coming to you now. thank you telus for the new modem, but you're still wads.
after the telus meltdown it was off to cut a couple lawns and then to meet 'he who con not be named on the blog' for dinner at topanga...then home to fall asleep on the couch.
saturday was a busy one i'll tell you...doglawn in the morning, teamster lawn shortly after that and then downtown to lisa's to grab her and go pick-up some stuff in east van that she had stored over there...stuff we had taken there only a few short months ago. all worth the hassle as i got to have lunch with her, bought by her, at 'me and julio's' on commercial. i like that joint. and lisa's ok too.
after the move with lisa, it was off to kits to get another lawn done, then back to the shop to drop-off the mowers and such, wash the car and head to megan's to help her move some of her stuff to the storage place on terminal. i do love moving. megan just bought a new place and is putting some of her stuff into storage while she does her renos...very exciting.
the lovely sara mitchell and i later met-up and headed out for some cal-mex goodness and then a night at the movies...(500) days of summer to be exact...it gets good reviews but we both thought it was a piece of shit. oh well...still nice to get out to the movies...
today was breakfast at deacon's corner, and okay joint close to the homestead and then lazy get this and that after that...i got out on the, soon to be sold, motorcycle and little bit later - met-up with the queen of mount pleasant, juliet, talked a little bit about my, seemingly, imminent, move back to kits - unless it all falls through (still could..), had a coffee, and talked about the state of the (personal) union...
now it's cheap pasta and sauce....exactly want i want to eat right now...and a story on the recently deceased don hewitt.
work tomorrow, hockey tomorrow night...nice.
night night.

g. xo

some photos i found of a meal the garbs and i had last week at salsa and agave. good stuff. (why's this shit underlined...?)

telus...

fucking idiots. complete fucking idiots.

g. xo

That’s right, it starts with an earthquake…

I have to admit I’m a little out of my head these days, not in an overly overt way or anything that’s, hopefully, it’s all going gangbusters over here – the shop – as we make our way to the first day of shooting on this new extravaganza. My new mortgage hasn’t been approved yet so it’s causing me some concern but I have adopted, for now, a sense of calm that’s actually more of a ‘fuck it what can I do’ kinda thing…because I can’t do anything. I have given them everything they need and can do no more. So, fuck it. There is a plan ‘b’ but I don’t want to do that…details on that if it has to be put into play. Fingers crossed.

Next week, Monday, the queen of the universe is getting married and, as much as I wanted to go and watch her get married by an Elvis impersonator in Vegas, I am not going to be able to make the trip. With work ramping up now and my passport expiring, it’s a no go…I wish her all the best and love her so. I’m sure they’ll have a great time and there will be pictures to be had – and you’ll see ‘em here to be sure.

Next week will also see the return of the Thursday lunch here. I’ll be bringing back Floyd’s baked beans and pulled pork sandwiches for the first comeback – and maybe even some peaches and cream corn on the cob…the boys were asking for it, and I’m willing to make a go of it. I’m a little excited about it.

The lawns have made a decent comeback with the rain dump last week. A long way from a full comeback but still, there was some new grass to grow and it did my heart good to get out there the last few nights and cut some grass. I do love it. This weekend, starting tomorrow night will bring me a few more lawns to cut and will make my heart a little less black.

Two games of hockey next week as well – looking forward to that. A week or so ago we out the blades back on and had a great game over on the north shore. It should have been a little shorter than it was - I was beaten by the end of it (in fact beaten by it when there was still 20 minutes to go.) but it was still a great workout and I do love those guys. Bomber hockey starts again in sept. and new week will be a nice tune-up towards that. I love bombing.

Caught up today on Marcy’s blog – a link to it on this very blog – and a good read it is. She’s very dedicated, and a kind and gentle soul and it all makes for a good blog. Good for her on following through on something hard and a real brain and body buster – go girl.

Ok..I need a snack.

g. xo

got live if ya want it

i came on-board the 'shudder to think' train a little late - first really listening to them when their album 'pony express record' came out originally. i saw them a couple of times, once in seattle and once at the commodore here in vancouver - so great. after their last album came out, 50,000 b.c, they (main members craig and nathan) split and went on to do more soundtrack work and some solo action. last year, after enough people asked them when they were gonna re-form or something, they did a few shows and decided to record one for a new live album....just because.
i hate nostalgia but...i'm looking forward to hearing this.

g. xo

good job

i love this card....

this is why i want to buy a letterpress.

g. xo

blue(s) is the new red..or...

ya big fucking baby.

let me start off by saying that my interest in the nhl in general has fallen off significantly over the last five to six years, maybe more. i still love to see a good game, well played and the players that have made it to the nhl are among the world's best so it can be an exciting thing to witness. that said, the salaries, the lack of great play, the lack of exciting games, the political bullshit and free agency have made the game a total gong show. gone are the days of players pledging their allegiance to one team. gone are the yzerman's, the sakic's and the...well, they're gone. and the gong show continued tuesday with that complete idiot of a player, todd bertuzzi, signing with the red wings. a one year deal sure, but he's still a wing - for the second time. you'd think they would have learned the first time that he was a waste of skin. it kills me, even though i don't pay attention like i used to, it still makes me sad. i love the wings.
in or around 1974 kip lindsay, my personal hero, gave me a wings jersey and from that the dye was cast. at his funeral a fews years back, a great number of the men there wore wings sweaters in remembrance of his love for the wings. sure, in my mid teens i lost track of the wings a little - girls and beer gained a stronghold on my life but the arrival of stevie y. and bob probert brought me back into the fold in the early 80's.
the signing of bertuzzi is just wrong. plain and simple. getting rid of hossa doesn't mean you need to get a problem like bertuzzi. and he is a problem.
i can't cheer for the wings this next season. i just can't. he is that much of a rash. i had always been a fan of the old norris division so i'll be looking to those teams for goodness. even with the recent off-ice problems of the hawks, see kane, i still think that may be the team to saddle up with. or perhaps the blues.
time will tell but for now the wings have to wait. i feel badly about this, this abandonment but, i have no choice, my hands are tied.

g. xo

riding nowhere and cones o' plenty

Every once in a while you/I get a sign that people may be operating on less than a full tank of gas – and let me say right out, I’m no genius and do all sorts of stupid shit but nothing compared to yesterday’s downtown sky train action.

There I was out driving around, wasting fossil fuels (for work not pleasure..) and listening to the radio as they reported how the new sky train line that connects the downtown to the airport was now open. Not only open but free until 9 p.m. last night. Yes, you could ride to the airport and back – for free. This proved so popular that there were line-ups to get on the sky train that were upwards of two hours long. Two hours to get on the sky train. To ride it for free. To say you were the first. And that you rode it for free. I don’t know about you but a: I’m not lining up for any bus or sky train or lining up for anything for that matter (unless it’s an el presidente grilled pork burrito or something like that….) b: not lining up to ride a bus…call it the sky train if you want…it’s a bus. And I have nothing against the bus, I do ride one from time to time but I’m not lining up for two hours to ride the bus to the airport and back.

So two plus hour line-ups to ride the sky bus plus, they had to tell people to get off at the end because people were driving it back and forth, over and over. They had a band outside the seabus terminal, people dancing, etc…ladies and gentlemen, it’s a bus to the airport, start your cheering now.

In other news.

the garbs made a sculpt, recently, of his angry ice cream cone, then gave it to corie and he made a cast of it…next…who knows…? Maybe cone vinyl toys? Hand painted one-offs…? Only the garbs knows for sure…

over and out.

g. xo

larry makes the grade

i found a pic of larry on the net today...

oh larry....

g. xo

summer's here...finally

i'm always looking for that new summer album...i use them as markers to years gone and times i have forgotten...it helps me know when certain things happened, during that summer...'that was the summer of...lemonheads 'it's a shame about ray' or lcd soundsystem's 'losing my edge'...like that.. this year, for me it's been the pop goodness of phoenix and joel plaskett's 'three'...so far..and today i'm gonna add to that list the new richmond fontaine album, 'we used to think the freeway sounded like a river'. and if you'd like to get ahold of it you can look for it at your favorite record seller or go to the richmond fontaine website and download it...they have a bunch of different options, in terms of quality, for the download...
have fun...we're listening to it right now...nice.

g. xo

over the hills and through the woods...

i'm not sure why but, i often think and view - at least in my mind - deep cove in the same way i view and think of gibsons. a watery, tourist area that is home to many a dope smokin' hippy...or at least earthy folks...it really is a beautiful area of the lower mainland to be sure..i spent some time out there this weekend and all in all had a good time...sure, the sushi's not that good - not terrible - just not that good, the kids roaming around are all high on something but, it's good. sara's house sitting out there for the next ten days or so and she invited me to come hang out. so i did. this morning we hiked - yes, i hiked - up the baden-powell trail to quarry rock...it's about two kms through the woods, up and down and up and down, to a rock face - that climbers also assent from the front side i believe - called quarry rock. i said that already right?...whatever. it's a great view from up there and even though i am fat and old and outta shape, it was a good walk and got the old heart pumpin'...no jammer but if i was gonna have one it seems like a decent place to have one.
yesterday, the garbs, tobe and i delivered a wall unit propellor had made for photographer and all-round good guy, mark mushet...i believe it was actually made to measure for his lady friend gudrun, but i could be mistaken. and it was and is one heavy piece of furniture...the world's greatest teamster driver, paul, lent me/us one of his camera cars which made the moving all that much easier - thanks paul...and i have to say, it went flawlessly...not a dent, not a angry curse word, nothin'. pretty good...another good deed gone unpunished.
as for the rest of the week that went unreported...well...there's not a lot to report...the rains came and helped out the lawns a little, got some cuts done, worked all week making movie magic, a little of this and a little of that...oh..the fawnz called me the other day and let me know that the west memphis 3 may be getting another trial - that one of the original witness' has recanted her story...so if you're at all interested, maybe you saw the documentary on the event originally, check it this link out.
ok..i'm off to get a new belt, buy some groceries, vacuum my place and watch some nurse jackie...

have fun.

g xo

sara'a a little bit hippy...ok, maybe just a little bit earthy...

but not that earthy.

nice view from there..

my knees were not loving the decent...ever since i smashed my knee at joel's it's been getting worse...

nice camera car man...

and a nice fit...

the garbs gives his approval before the load.

thanks!


you're welcome